This news service recently talked to the UK head of Allfunds, the Madrid-headquartered B2B funds distribution platform, after the group had issued first-quarter financial data. It has navigated forces such as the UK’s Consumer Duty regime (July 2023), the continued ferment around alternative investing, and more. 

Fund distribution platform Allfunds continues to acquire market traction in the UK and Europe, and there’s plenty of upside potential in a field where technology is reshaping this business, the head of its UK business arm says.

In its first-quarter 2024 results, Allfunds’ assets under administration expanded 7 per cent, at €1.336 trillion ($1.72 trillion) at the end of March. Platform service AuA increased by 10 per cent to €1.028 trillion on a year earlier, and up by 4 per cent from the end of 2023. Allfunds said trotal net revenues in Q1 2024 stood at €153 million, rising 18 per cent on a year ago and up by 4 per cent from the previous three-month period. 

While the pace of growth can sometimes hit bumps in the road as a result of macroeconomics or the need for any business, however, successful, to digest inflows and manage change, the direction of travel appears clear for Tom Wooders, UK head of Allfunds. 

The business is “solidifying its presence in the UK with full regulatory status,” Wooders, who took up his post in January 2023, said. (We also interviewed Wooders last year.)

Critical mass in the building is now creating its own momentum, Wooders said.

“From Allfunds’ viewpoint there is still immense scope for continued growth, both in the UK and other markets,” he said. “From a UK perspective we want to be the ‘go to’ partner to the UK wealth industry in terms of funds distribution and wealth technology.  At a wider level, Allfunds will continue to build on its strong value proposition as the one stop shop for wealth professionals by investing in new initiatives and services to support new and existing clients.”

The business, which originated in Spain, has a large market share there, and is posting robust growth in other nations, such as Italy. In the UK, just under €100 billion of assets go via the Allfunds platform. 

Alternatives
Unsurprisingly, the rising profile of private market investing, aka alternative investments, is very much on the firm’s radar. 

One of Allfunds’ objectives is to bring alternative investment classes onto its platform; the firm launched its Allfunds Private Partners program last year to provide better access to private market funds for its clients. The APP program has already onboarded products from firms including BlackRock, Blackstone, Apollo and Franklin Templeton, with further engagements taking place with several of the world’s largest alternative fund providers, he said.

So what’s the “secret sauce” for this business?

“We deliver. When we commit and engage with a new client, we work with them to expedite on all processes. We have been present in the UK since 2005 and we have built a reputation for quality of service,” Wooders said.

“We have circa 60 institutional distributor clients in the UK, with just shy of €10 billion assets under administration,” he said.

Its staff numbers are 50 in Allfunds Bank and another 50 in MainStreet Partners, the ESG investment services and analytics company acquired by Allfunds in 2023. 

When this news service spoke to Wooders last year, one topic was the new UK Consumer Duty regime being enacted by the Financial Conduct Authority. Since its arrival, wealth managers such as St James’s Place have had to restructure their fees. 

“Fundamentally, our UK business model remains the same under the Consumer Duty. The part we feel we play is as facilitator of meaningful information sharing along the distribution chain to allow our counterparties to fulfil their obligations, and we are establishing a framework to do that consistently,” Wooders said.