Standard Life's Dow: Are you getting a good platform deal?

Graham Dow, head of investment group relationships at Standard Life, looks at the true nature of newly-transparent fund deals.

One area of recent change I am particularly interested in is the now transparent fund deals. As you might imagine, this is an area that has caused me many sleepless nights over the last 12 months. Up to now, you could argue that we were all posturing under shrouds of secrecy – each platform convinced it was getting the best deals and were secretly the ‘most favoured’ of the bunch. Transparency brings full visibility for the customer and the adviser, and clarity to me of how other platforms have negotiated their positions. The fund deals haven’t been negotiated purely on scale – tha...