Advisers' DFM use doubles in a year

Now accounts for a quarter of investment approaches

A new survey by Nucleus suggests advisers' use of discretionary fund managers (DFMs) has more than doubled in the last 12 months. But what does this mean for the market - and what do advisers really think about DFMs?

According to a census of 200 financial advisers undertaken by Nucleus, the use of third-party DFMs by the advisory sector has doubled in the last year and now accounts for almost a quarter (24%) of all investment approaches - up from 12% last year.  Furthermore, this looks set to increase, with almost half (47%) of respondents saying they will begin to use or increase their use of DFMs over the next year, and just 14% saying they will decrease their use. While some two-fifths (39%) said they do not use DFMs - down from 44% last year - no one said they planned to stop using DFMs. Nu...