'Big platforms must list trusts or lose business'

THE BIG INTERVIEW

Alasdair Pal talks to JPMAM's head of UK retail, Jasper Berens, about the industry's coverage of investment trusts, fund pricing, and a painful lesson learnt in 2013.

The reluctance of the three largest fund platforms to list investment trusts has dealt a blow to the industry – not least the UK’s largest trust provider, J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). In November, Cofunds announced it had abandoned a pilot with Barclays Stockbrokers to allow access to trusts, with Fidelity FundsNetwork and Skandia also failing to offer a wide range of closed-ended funds vehicles on their platforms. Jasper Berens, JPMAM’s head of UK retail, is outspoken on advisers using the lack of coverage on the big three as a convenient excuse not to use them: “It is the l...