Cofunds, the UK general investment platform with £60 billion ($94 billion) of assets under administration, has formed a partnership with Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research, the investment research business.

Cofunds, the UK general investment platform with £60 billion ($94 billion) of assets under administration, has formed a partnership with Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research, the investment research business.

Square Mile will provide Cofunds with focused fund research and also undertake fund governance by a mix of in-depth qualitative and quantitative investment research as well as tailored support and investment services.

“Our partnership will see Square Mile providing the level of high quality due diligence fund research that the industry requires in today’s complex environment. The team behind Square Mile has a strong reputation and in particular a focus on investor outcomes,” Adam Smith, commercial director at Cofunds, said.

The move comes at a time when the platform industry in the UK continues to evolve under the pressures of regulatory changes wrought by the Retail Distribution Review and technological changes encouraging financial advisors to use platforms as way to source asset management services. The platform sector in the UK now has its own trade association, The UK platform group, to lobby over issues about the £400 billion sector.