The programme is designed to give fund management groups new ways to engage with Fidelity’s customers including individual investors, advisers and employers, in the UK and globally. Fund groups that use the programme will be able to participate in a programme of marketing and events, with direct access to Fidelity’s sales team and senior executives. In return, Fidelity will expect participants to provide customers with access to their full range of products and supply the platform with the lowest cost share classes available.
The group said that it has access to over one million individual investors, relationships with around 50% of the investment advisory market and also with 500 employer pension schemes.
Fidelity also said that it plans to invest significantly in growing its UK distribution business. The multi-year programme will include redevelopment of its digital capabilities, broadening of its product range, and delivering a new retirement offering. The group said it would announce further details of its plans over the coming months.
This is part of a wider battle among platform providers to ensure that the RDR does not erode their scale advantage. Yesterday, Cofunds said it had written to fund managers outlining how it planned to secure access to newly launched share classes, thereby reflecting pre-RDR rebate deals. Standard Life also announced that it had secured lower cost share classes from eight fund management groups on its platform. Again, this was designed to reflect pre-existing deals with providers on its platform.
The reaction from fund management groups is still mixed. A number of fund management groups have agreed to launch low cost share classes. Most recently, Investec agreed to launch low-cost share classes for six of its most popular funds. Other groups, such as M&G, have been more reluctant to launch a wave of new share classes to reflect different platform deals.
