News/Events

Now you can wrap all your investments in one blanket [17th September 07]

For once our industry is not using an acronym so I can save you some time in trying to work out what this means. A “WRAP” is a powerful new facility in client portfolio administration which is designed to assist financial advisers such as Langtons with arranging their client transactions. This potentially covers the following:

• Personal Pension Providers including Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs)
• Unit Trusts
• Personal Equity Plans (PEPs)
• Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)
• Stockbroker facilities e.g. shares
• Onshore Investment Bond Provider
• Offshore Investment Bond Provider

NB some content of a WRAP may not be regulated by the FSA, e.g. commercial property in a SIPP.

Needless to say, “WRAPs” have been successful in America and indeed Australia with an aim to save time and money by providing:

• A single view of a portfolio on one statement to enable efficient valuations.
• A “one stop” shop for transactions, cutting down the hassle of dealing with multiple providers and thus streamlining processes.
• One point of entry to a comprehensive range of pensions and investments

I have, for many years been recommending my clients to utilise an investment fund supermarket, e.g. CoFunds, Fidelity FundsNetwork and Selestia internet based platforms, which allows them to consolidate all their odd PEPs and ISAs that they had bought over the years. So many clients have been pleased to have the continual flow of marketing material stopped from flooding through the letterbox and receive one consolidated valuation every 6 months. On top of that, there is low cost switching which enables me and other IFAs to keep our clients portfolio under review and make changes swiftly when markets or performance dictates.

Well a “WRAP” goes one stage further as they will encompass most investment products and not only provide a full valuation at the touch of a button but provide impartial information on asset allocation of the Pension and Investment portfolio i.e. how much is invested in equities, UK & International, fixed interest securities, commercial property and cash etc.

“WRAPs” have been slow to take off in the UK and there are few in the market with those available varying in sophistication and complexity. But, larger companies, such as Standard Life, have entered the market with a fanfare of trumpets so they will definitely give a huge push forward with lots of advertising and, no doubt good press.

Beware, although the aim of a WRAPP is to consolidate multiple holdings into one account the charges could be higher on some Investments and it could be cheaper buying them separately.

A “WRAP” may not be right for everyone but we believe strongly at Langtons that the option must be given to our clients as it will allow us more time to spend with our clients on how to achieve their financial goals. Speak to your IFA about the benefits of a ”WRAP”.

This article was written by Langtons - Published in the Western Morning News, This is Money, 17th September 2007