Cofunds Moving Towards A Cleaner Direction With Share Classes

Ainhoa Barcelona

1 May 2013

Cofunds has said it is on track to add 3,000 clean shares classes onto the platform by July of this year.

The platform has held over 2,700 clean share classes since September 2011 and plans to increase, given the wider market movement towards this direction and recent policy statement, PS 13/1, to promote clean share classes.

Cofunds has been aggressively expanding its number of fund groups, with 10 new groups live since the start of the year, two more live today, and another six in the pipeline to launch in the coming months, the firm said.

Head of fund manager relations Michelle Woodburn commented on the industry’s move to clean share classes: “Everyone, even those who’ve been playing the platform paper waiting game before acting, need to embrace clean share classes and they need to do it now. Moving to cleaner share classes make things simpler for everyone – the advisor agrees a fee with the investor and the platform clearly states what the investor will be charged for the services provided.”

“Importantly, applying discrete charges for each part of the value chain we will go a long way to helping the value of professional financial advice get the recognition it deserves,” she said.

“Even if HMRC’s move to tax rebates at source wasn’t impetus enough for others finally to embrace clean, there’s no ignoring PS13/1,” she added.