Control your destiny. Own the client relationship. Improve customer experience. All with a platform of your very own.
Are clunky, paper-based and expensive platforms causing frustration for you and your clients? Do you feel like your reputation’s being damaged by the shortcomings of a service you can’t control? Maybe it’s time to operate a platform of your own.
With a new, Seccl-powered platform, you can deliver an experience that’s fast, fully paperless, and more affordable than ever – and doesn’t involve endless back-and-forth with platform admin teams.
When you run your own platform, your clients enter a legal relationship with you, not a third-party platform. If you ever want to change your custodian or tech partner in the future, you don’t need your clients’ permission.
‘Vertical integration’ isn’t without its controversy. But for the right firms, and with the right technology, the decision to own more of the value chain can improve the client experience, at a substantially reduced cost.
Has ongoing consolidation in the platform market left you concerned about the prospect of major upheaval and forced migrations? With a platform of your own, you’re in control of the platform stack.
We’d grown frustrated with the clunky, inflexible and inefficient technology of existing platforms, and decided to run our own on cutting edge tech. You no longer have to be a large national network to do so – and I’d strongly encourage it to other ambitious firms looking to stay ahead.
Rather than providing a platform in the typical sense, firms can use our outsourced custody and investment technology, along with our professional and client portals, as the infrastructure on which to build and operate a platform of their own.
We’ll handle the custody and client money, as well as powering the trading and settlement of assets. Our clients take on the role of platform operator – owning the legal relationship with the end investor, handling the day-to-day admin and adviser/client support, and earning the platform fee in the process.
It gives forward-thinking firms an opportunity to take meaningful control of the platform journey, and do what they do best: deliver an amazing customer experience.
White label, appointed rep, platform service provider, adviser-owned platforms… the market is full of jargon, but not a whole lot of clarity. We thought we’d define some terms, and break it down the options (as we see them!) for advisers exploring their next step in the platform journey…
Typical platformFully off-the-shelf, with no customisation |
White label platformCustomisation limited to branding |
White label ‘plus’More customisation, but still limited control |
Platform ownershipFull control of the platform experience |
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| Platform handles the admin and support Third-party platform fulfils FCA-regulated role of ‘Platform Service Provider’, handling all of the operations, admin and customer support |
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| Client signs terms with platform Third-party platform has a direct legal relationship with the end client |
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| Control the branding Financial advice firm (or DFM) can ‘white label’ the platform, branding it as their own |
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| Act as an Appointed Rep Financial advice firm (or DFM) operates a platform as an Appointed Representative (AR) of the third-party platform |
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| Influence the pricing Financial advice firm (or DFM) is able to determine the platform’s pricing to its end clients |
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| You handle the admin and support Financial advice firm (or DFM) handles all of the operations, admin and customer support – supported by a third-party custodian and technology provider |
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| Client signs terms with you Financial advice firm (or DFM) will have a direct legal relationship with the client (instead of a third-party platform) |
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| You earn the platform fee Client pays the financial advice firm (or DFM) a platform fee, rather than a third-party platform |
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| Good for those who aren't looking for any additional control over the customer experience | Good for those who only want cosmetic control of the customer journey | Good for those who want a bit more influence, but don’t want to control the client relationship | Good for those who want to take more complete control of the customer relationship |
It used to be the case that only large firms or national networks could afford to run a platform of their own. Not any more.
Advances in technology mean that the economics of platform ownership have changed, and clients of smaller firms can enjoy the benefits, too. Head to our pricing page to find out more and start testing the business case.
It would have been unachievable for a firm of our size to have our own platform three or four years ago. Seccl has made it possible.
You don’t need to hire plenty of new staff to run your own platform. After all, your admin team probably spends huge amounts of time dealing with platforms at the moment – time they’ll get back when they’re out of the frame…
Choosing to operate your own platform is an important step that brings new levels of control, but new responsibilities, too.
You might need to get new permissions, and will likely want to consider your corporate structure, governance procedures and capital adequacy. To find out more about the ins and outs of what’s involved, take a read of our introductory guide.
Operating a platform may not be right for your firm at the moment. But what if you still want to enjoy the benefits of a next-generation platform – one that’s affordable, fully paperless and easy to use? Luckily, you can still explore the platforms we power.
This could be the perfect option for firms who want to improve their current offering but aren’t quite ready to operate a platform of their own.
A NextWealth ‘Digital Process Champion’, and voted number 1 for service by advisers in The Lang Cat’s State of the Nation report.
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The Bristol-based DFM has launched a fully paperless platform as an antidote to existing clunky, inflexible and inefficient platforms.
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The all-in-one back-office, investment platform and DFM proposition from national IFA operator, Loyal North.
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If you want to find out more or kick off a conversation, then get in touch – we’d love to chat
