Royal London chief executive Phil Loney has said the group is currently preparing its wrap platform Ascentric to be "four or five times the size it is today" over the coming years, following a tougher 2014.
Ascentric saw a 20% drop in new business in the first half of 2014, according to Royal London interim results out today, with net new assets dropping from £813m to £651m.
Market gains have nonetheless helped boost assets under management from £6.2bn to £8bn, a 30% gain.
Loney said the drop reflected a quieter year for platforms in general, rather than a trend affecting only Ascentric. He said: "We have yet to see the market share figures for the first half of the year. I would be surprised if our market share is down."
He said the next 18 months will see the group focus on boosting Ascentric, in particular investing to make it scaleable. He said the goal was to grow AUM to four or five times the current size of £8bn.
"What we really look at is are we net growth positive, and secondly are we holding onto our market share," he said.
"The market will be a bit stronger some years and less strong other years, but we focus on the relative position of the platform to others in the market place."
However, Loney said Royal London would not turn Ascentric into a life-company branded entity despite the impact this might have in terms of customer recognition.
"We remain committed to Ascentric as an independent wrap platform. We have no plans to change to a Standard Life model."
The platform's incoming chief Jon Taylor will be taking over as managing director of Ascentric in 2015, when current boss Hugo Thorman becomes chairman of the company.
It will continue to work on its latest proposition for financial advisers - which has seen it launch a direct to consumer for IFAs option - which Loney confirmed the firm was still enhancing.
He said the platform has completed the first stage of the launch: “It is being launched in phases over a period of time. A small number of IFAs already have connectivity. It depends on how sophisticated their websites are.
“I do not think you are going to see a big public launch. The whole idea is it is plumbing that plugs into IFAs’ websites. “
