Alliance Trust Savings (ATS) has agreed to acquire Brewin Dolphin's execution-only Stocktrade business in a bid to accelerate its growth.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out its final definitions of regulated advice and personal recommendations in retail investment, in a move it hopes will help firms develop 'low cost' distribution models with confidence.
Half of advisers have considering launching an execution-only proposition following the introduction of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), according to a recent poll, despite regulatory scrutiny of the market.
Execution-only (EO) businesses such as Hargreaves Lansdown have achieved much higher profit growth over the past five years than peers solely operating in the wealth management and private bank space, a study has revealed.
Non-advised platform assets under administration will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 71% between 2011 and 2014, according to figures from Deloitte.