Satisfaction scores
All satisfaction scores fell by, on average, seven percentage points.
Defaqto undertakes an annual satisfaction survey among financial advisers to establish the service levels of providers of wealth and protection products. This paper sets out the results for the platform market.
Top three positions
7IM and Parmenion achieved the greatest number of top three positions for satisfaction, with a good showing from Quilter and Wealthtime.
Preferred platforms
The platform market is largely dominated by Aviva, Quilter, AJ Bell, Fidelity and Transact, with in excess of 20% of advisers placing these platforms in their top three preferred platforms.
Change of platform
34% of advisers said they had changed their main platform provider in the last 12 months, significantly more than in previous years.
- The study was conducted between August and September 2023 employing online fieldwork techniques; it measured the relative importance of 11 satisfaction categories and identified the advisers’ preferred platform providers.
- The study measured how satisfied the advisers are with their preferred platforms and identified where expectations were being met by cross-matching ranked importance with ranked satisfaction.
- On average, 19% of advisers place all their business on platform, and 54% place between 75% and 99% of their business on platform.
- On average, advisers are recommending 2.89 platforms. Aviva is the most recommended platform, and Quilter, AJ Bell Investcentre, Transact and Fidelity Adviser solutions account for 26% or more of adviser recommendations.
- The platform market is largely dominated by Aviva, Quilter, AJ Bell, Fidelity and Transact, with in excess of 20% of advisers placing these platforms in their top three preferred platforms.
- 34% of advisers said they had changed their main platform provider in the last 12 months, significantly more than in previous years. This has increased again from last year’s 28% with advisers still being impacted by mergers, takeovers and technology updates plus the impact of Consumer Duty.
- New business administration and Existing business administration were first and second for importance, as they were in the previous year’s study. Technical assistance and Adviser charge administration were the categories regarded as least important relatively speaking.
- All satisfaction scores fell by, on average, seven percentage points. The top five categories for importance suffered the most with weighted satisfaction scores being as much as 10 percentage points lower than in 2022.
- 7IM and Parmenion achieved the greatest number of top three positions for satisfaction, with a good showing from Quilter and Wealthtime.
- A cross-match of ranked importance and ranked satisfaction demonstrates that the industry is meeting or exceeding expectations for only four out of the 11 categories of service. Most concerning is that the categories ranked top three for importance fell below adviser expectations by upwards of three percentage points of satisfaction
View the full report here