Technology

Ascentric Chooses RDR Compliant Investment Tools

Knud Noelle 5 August 2009

Ascentric Chooses RDR Compliant Investment Tools

Ascentric, the UK online wrap service provider, has implemented the Independent Edge Retail Distribution Review compliant investment tools.

After December 2012, IFA firms can only be certain that their systems are “RDR compliant” if they are actuarially clean and have no “product provider” input, Independent Edge said in a statement.

In response to this, Independent Edge has developed a virtual investment committee and a clean asset allocation and risk profiler tool.

“If independent firms use panels, software or systems provided by product providers, they risk jeopardizing their independent status,” said Shannon Currie, managing director of Independent Edge.

“This should not happen, as product provider systems should be actuarially ‘clean’ and unbiased. However, it turns out that most, if not all, have had their asset allocation and assumptions ‘adjusted’, for whatever reason.”

“This means that after December 2012, the only way that any IFA firm can be certain that their systems are ‘RDR compliant’ is if the system they have decided to use is actuarially clean, and has had absolutely no ‘product provider’ input,” she added.

Richard Goodall, sales director at Ascentric said: "As a platform with unbiased and unrestricted market coverage, it's important that advisors also have access to RDR compliant tools to help them make the right decisions for their clients. The addition of Independent Edge is a significant enhancement to the tools we already have on the platform and will undoubtedly prove a big hit with our users."

Both, Independent Edge’s “The Investment Solution” and “Virtual Investment Committee”, meet the standard demanded by the FSA in the post RDR world, the firm said.

Independent Edge is a software and investment firm that provides independent, technology-based investment solutions to small and medium IFA firms.

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