07 December 2018
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Investment Week looks back at the biggest wealth manager moves that made the headlines in 2018.
January
In January, Brewin Dolphin announced plans to save £3m on its Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) by moving the bulk of its investment with third-party managers from retail funds to segregated mandates.
The reduction was passed onto advisers' clients through the OCFs of the underlying fund holdings, with the largest cut seen on the Global Equity portfolio whose OCF dropped by 27%.
Robin Beer (pictured), managing director of investment solutions and distribution at Brewin Dolphin, said the firm had been contemplating this change for a while but had been constrained by assets.
February
Bad news for Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) in February as Lloyds decided to cancel a £109bn investment contract after talks over a merger between Lloyds' subsidiary Scottish Widows and SLA's pension and assurance business broke down.
SLA was given a 12-month notice period for the termination of the arrangement, while the assets were moved to a "material competitor" following the merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen last August.
It is understood there were disagreements over the structure of the potential merger of the pensions businesses, which would have had £300bn in AUM.
Following termination of the talks, it was reported that Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio (pictured) made the decision to pull the £109bn contract from SLA, although one source told Sky News the decision was attracting attention from City watchdogs.
March
IntegraFin Holdings, which owns platform Transact, listed on the London Stock Exchange on 2 March, 19 years after being founded as the UK’s first B2B platform.
Led by chief executive Ian Taylor, the firm has over £33bn in funds under direction held in more than 155,000 clients investment portfolios.
Meanwhile, Nucleus – led by chief executive David Ferguson (pictured) – also announced plans to float in an IPO that values the firm at more than £100m.
April
Harwood Wealth Management made a number of board changes in April, with Alan Durrant becoming sole chief executive and former co-CEO Neil Dunkley becoming managing director of financial planning.
The move was driven by changes to the Senior Managers Regime and the evolution of the group, which will see Durrant responsible for the growth of the group's Wellian investment management division.
Harwood chairman Peter Mann (pictured) said the changes "make the best possible use of the resources within our senior team and [we] are confident that this will continue to enable the group to thrive".
May
In the third annual Defaqto DFM survey, released in May, Quilter Cheviot was named the most-used and most-preferred discretionary fund manager.
Quilter Cheviot rose from second place in last year’s report, while Brewin Dolphin took second spot and Investec Wealth & Investment was in third place.
There was also a boost for firms including Rowan Dartington, Walker Crips, Hawksmoor and Cazenove, which were being used by significantly more advisers than last year.
June
Following a managed separation from its parent company, the firm formerly known as Old Mutual Wealth listed on the London Stock Exchange as Quilter with a valuation of £2.76bn.
For every three Old Mutual plc shares held, shareholders received one ordinary share in Quilter and three ordinary shares in Old Mutual Limited.
The new business includes the firm’s wealth management arm and platform as well as the multi-asset funds which separated from Old Mutual Global Investors.
Paul Feeney (pictured), chief executive officer of Quilter, hailed the news as an "important milestone in the history of our business".
July
All change at WH Ireland in July as Richard Killingbeck stepped down from his role as chief executive, having joined the firm as head of private wealth management back in September 2013.
Killingbeck was replaced by Phillip Wale who joined from Cantor Fitzgerald Europe.
There was also a second key departure with head of wealth management Roddy Buchanan (pictured) leaving the business after five years as a result of an internal restructure.
August
In August, Charles Stanley Direct announced it had to increase its platform fee from 0.25% to 0.35% as a result of growing costs related to digitalisation, cyber security and systems to combat fraud as customer numbers have increased.
Its platform charge for the first £250,000 of funds went up to 0.35% per annum, falling to 0.20% on funds between £250,000-£500,000 and 0.15% on funds between £500,000-£1m.
September
The Personal Finance Society (PFS) announced John White (pictured), chief executive of wealth management firm Sanlam UK, as its president for 2018/19.
White said he would use his term as president to promote financial education by utilising the PFS' educational outreach programme.
He has sat on the board since September 2015 and replaced outgoing president Sharon Sutton.
October
After months of negotiation (see February), Schroders and Lloyds confirmed the launch of a wealth management strategic partnership in 2019 – with Schroders running £80bn of the Scottish Widows mandate formerly run by Standard Life Aberdeen.
James Rainbow, co-head of UK intermediary, was confirmed as chief executive of the joint venture, described as a “market-leading wealth management proposition”.
Lloyds will own 50.1% of the share capital and Schroders the remaining 49.9%.
Peter Harrison (pictured), CEO of Schroders, said: "In combining our technology and investment expertise with Lloyds' significant client base and digital capabilities, we are creating a strategic partnership which is exclusively focused on the evolving needs of UK savers and investors."
November
In November, Rathbone Brothers announced chief executive Philip Howell (pictured) will retire in May 2019 after five years at the helm, with Paul Stockton taking over the role.
Stockton is currently managing director of Rathbone Investment Management and will work closely with Howell to ensure a smooth transition.
Stockton had worked as group finance director for Rathbones for a decade and was appointed MD of the investment management business in May 2018.
December
Wealth manager St James' Place introduced minimum ESG criteria for all of its underlying portfolio managers.
The three criteria all existing and new fund managers must meet are having an ESG policy as part of their investment process, an individual responsible for ESG on the team, and a commitment to working on this over the long term with a future ESG development plan in place.
Chris Ralph (pictured), chief investment officer at St James's Place, said the move had been initiated earlier this year in response to increased desire from clients to hold ESG-friendly portfolios.
Investment Week looks back at the biggest wealth manager moves that made the headlines in 2018.
Investment Week looks back at the biggest wealth manager moves that made the headlines in 2018. 2018 was an eventful year in the world of wealth management. For some, it brought good news as they launched...
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