The UK fee-based independent financial advisor support firm threesixty has launched a new product in a bid to help IFAs compare platform features and charges.

The Comparator software, which was developed in conjunction with Capita and The Platforum, allows firms to compare the total cost of using a platform, including the platform charges, underlying fund management charges and IFAs’ own charges on a like-for-like basis, the firm said in statement.

Comparator enables such comparisons on all of the major platforms, including Ascentric, Avalon, Aviva, Cofunds, Elevate, FundsNetwork, Macquarie, Novia, Nucleus, 7IM, Raymond James, Skandia, Standard Life and Transact, with James Hay, Raymond James and Wealthtime to follow.

More platforms will be added to Comparator in the future, as well as further product types such as off-platform SIPPS later this year. Subsequently, the software will include a full transfer value analysis tool that will allow IFAs to work out the cost of migrating assets to a platform to a compliant standard.

Comparator also enables IFAs to analyse platform features such as which tax wrappers are available and the availability of cash accounts, although no scorings or weightings are applied to these criteria.

“The platform industry has to date been unable to facilitate an easy, like-for-like comparison of costs and we have worked with Capita to develop an answer to this problem. We recognise that cost is only one part of the overall reason for platform selection and the cheapest option is not always the best. However, the difficulties involved in comparing charges were a sufficiently important enough reason for us to develop this unique software tool for the benefit of threesixty clients,” said Phil Young, commercial director at threesixty.