Welcome to the August Adviser Update.

A chance to meet advisers

 I enjoyed the opportunity to escape the office and meet advisers during July. I love hearing about your businesses, your growth plans and how we can strengthen our partnership. In some cases, it is incredible to reflect on the progress we have made collectively. I wanted to share some of the common discussion topics. I am often asked to re-confirm our commitment to personal service and, of course, I do. We continue to make changes and embrace technology e.g. live chat for client queries, specialists for transfers, trusts, deceased but always with an ambition to improve personal service and make financial planning easier. The second most common discussion point is related to trusts. More advisers are increasing their focus on bonds and trusts.

Some advisers are reviewing the trust, technical or legal skills they need in their business. They are also reviewing processes and third-party support – particularly related to corporate trustees. Following the launch of our Flexible Reversionary Trust (FRT), we are conscious that you need a panel of reliable and cost-effective partners in this space. It has been great to hear positive feedback on our online chargeable gain calcs for one-off bond withdrawals (see TOL - recent enhancement article and the embedded video). You may also want to consider watching our Tech 30 webinar Onshore vs Offshore Bond: Choosing the right wrapper for your client. 

Some advisers who are reviewing their AI and CRM tools were interested in my views on future technology ecosystems. It is clear some advisers want more data and instructions via APIs so they can develop agentic processes – especially for client reviews. This is a key part of our API roadmap. Finally, I received a few questions on the ISA reforms (see previous AU article) and wanted to confirm that we are reviewing our auto-sell functionality. As you know, auto-sell triggers at 0.25% and tops up to 2%. We are going to give advisers more flexibility to reduce the top up level to 0.5%. We will also consider further changes based on adviser feedback.

Your role in the cash interest rebate 

I’m sure you’ve seen our efforts on shaping the debate and regulatory policy around cash interest disclosure and fair value. Now is the time for us all to act. If disclosure of cash interest matters to you, make sure you share your views with the FCA and help shape better outcomes for clients. (Consultation paper).  You may never have completed a response to a consultation paper before but it’s very easy to do and the FCA genuinely welcome views from across the industry – simply complete this online free text form here, (Consultation response form).If you want to get up to speed on the latest FCA proposals, I recently discussed cash interest retention with James Daley (Fairer Finance) and Jack Gilbert (Citywire New Model Adviser). We agreed that cash interest retention levels have increased significantly since the FCA’s Dear CEO letter in 2023. In my view, greater transparency—through clear disclosure of cash interest charges and retained interest in both £ and % terms—would help advisers and clients better understand costs, compare platforms fairly, and make more informed decisions. You can listen to the full episode 33 on Spotify  or  Apple Podcasts.

Improvements to our proposition

We have also strengthened our cash proposition and DIM offering this month. You and your clients can access a Lloyds International term deposit within the Transact Offshore Bond, offering predictable fixed returns for clients with international financial interests – rates and durations are available on TOL (e.g. 3-year term with a rate of ~4.89% p.a.). This proposition improvement was suggested by an adviser who was winning clients from private banks but struggling to move their cash assets to Transact. When interest rates rise, our term deposit proposition becomes more popular with advisers. Finally, the Dimensional MPS is now formally live on Transact. More choice and competition is great for advisers and customers. The DIM fee is priced at 6 basis points plus underlying fund costs. Many advisers have partnered with Transact and Dimensional and we are already seeing strong flows into the new offering.

Awards and events

I want to recognise all the paraplanners who work with Transact. We were delighted to win best platform at the Professional Planner awards – thank you to those who voted for us. We must keep improving and never be complacent. I recently recorded a podcast on platform charges for the Paraplanners’ assembly which may be of interest (here) and there is a further podcast on adviser technology due imminently.

We have decided to move our succession planning event from an in-person meeting to a virtual format to make it easier for those that would like to attend. This will be a great opportunity to hear from a select number of buyers and a broker, share your experiences, discuss succession planning challenges, and hear how peers are approaching the topic within their businesses. If you haven't already confirmed and you would like to attend, please do let me know, successionplanning@integrafin.co.uk. We will be holding Connect events in London, Warrington and Cardiff during October and November, plus a further seven breakfast events later this year. All our in-person regional breakfasts and Connect events are detailed on our events page. There are also several MPS events where you can hear from both BlackRock and our Head of Technical, Mark Fenlon. Dates are detailed in the Transact-BlackRock MPS update.

Annual feedback surveys

Towards the end of August, we will be issuing our annual Adviser and Client Surveys. You will receive a survey directly, and some of your clients may also be invited to share their feedback. We appreciate that surveys are often not top of any priority list but we greatly value these insights. They help us continue to improve our service and platform, shape our prioritisation on development and are definitely a worthwhile exercise.

Thank you for your continued support.