Letter Of Authority – Discounted Service

In the October update we mentioned a recent Chief Operating Officer (COO) event we held at our offices. It was an opportunity for COOs from across a large number of adviser firms to share ideas and experience (both good and bad). One item where there was universal agreement was the challenges of the Letter of Authority (LoA) process. One adviser said it was the “…most depressing part of the [onboarding] process.” – paper letters, wrong addresses, “black holes”, lack of transparency etc.

Generally, LoAs (signed by their client) are required by an adviser in order to obtain the necessary information to perform a review of a new client’s existing arrangements. These often include investments or savings from a platform, product provider or legacy/workplace pension firm. The adviser is not currently recognised by the existing provider so requires a signed LoA by the client before they will exchange the client’s data with the adviser.

Receipt of a LoA often precedes a recommendation for the client to move to a new platform which might better suit their financial needs. Naturally, Transact would like to see as few of these LoAs as possible – because they are an indication that we may lose a client. But it works both ways, Transact receives business from transfers in and sometimes loses business from transfers out. We pride ourselves on treating requests for transfers out as importantly as requests to transfer in.

Special Discount to Pension Lab’s Digital LoA Service until 31 March

We recently met with The Pension Lab to learn about their service. They aim to digitalise the LoA experience for advisers and clients. The idea is that the client gives email authorisation for the LoA and that is then sent to the pension (or ISA, GIA) provider to request the necessary data. The Pension Lab is an interesting idea that we feel may be one option to make financial planning easier. We don’t have any commercial relationship with The Pension Lab, and there are other solutions in the UK market with similar goals, but if you are interested they have offered Transact advisers a discount of 10% by using the code ‘Transact10’ (valid until 31 March 2025). If you have any questions regarding the above, please get in touch with your friendly Transact Adviser Support Manager.

1. Introduction
2. TOL Recent Enhancements 
3. Removal of Adviser Purchase Related Fees
4. Platform Health Check
5. Adding Value to family Businesses 
6. LoA Discounted Service 
7. Transact – BlackRock MPS Two Years On!
8. Pensions Death Benefits and a Time For Reflection 
9. Pensions, IHT Headaches And The Potential For Gifting
10. Finance Act 2024 and Abolition of LTA
11. Interest on cash
12. Transact Events 2025