BlackRock, the giant US investment management house, has rolled out an online tool for advisors preparing for the shakeup to UK wealth management in the form of the Retail Distribution Review programme that starts in 2013.

The service is called the BlackRock Transitioning Tool. It is designed to enable advisors to carry out tasks such as determining the cost of servicing clients, establishing a client servicing proposition, understanding the potential benefits of client segmentation, modelling potential revenues, forecasting how revenues might evolve over the next three years and considering factors that influence how a practice is valued.

The RDR programme is designed to increase the professionalism and independence of wealth advisors by, among other reforms, stamping out the use of commissions and transforming the industry to a more transparent, fee-based payment model. The RDR is one of the factors that is driving some merger and acquisition activity in the independent financial advisor market.

BlackRock said it has, as part of the move towards a fee-model, created what it calls an Adviser Centre to provide advisors with education materials so they can develop their business.

The firm has also developed so-called Best Practice Insights, collecting opinions from 30 of the UK’s leading financial advisors about what has helped them to succeed.

In July, BlackRock launched its first range of funds specifically developed to help advisors and investors adapt to RDR.