Standard Life Wrap

Alibert

I decided to take advice from an IFA and, amongst advice on other topics, the platform she recommends for a SIPP is Standard Life Wrap

Any views , or interesting information about that platform?

dunstonh

Standard Life wrap is not used by most IFAs as Standard Life require the firm to agree to place at least a certain amount on their platform. This is why Standard Life now operates two platforms. The other being Standard Life Elevate. Elevate is the one mostly used by IFAs as there is no commitment to use it. Now it could be that your "IFA" firm brings in so much business that they can commit to putting so much on Std Life wrap and still manage to remain independent. Or it could be that they are not an IFA but a wealth management company or FA. (that may seem a strange thing to say but research has found that around half the people seeing an FA/restricted service though they were using an IFA).

I always find the decision to use Standard Life wrap strange as Elevate is normally cheaper for smaller values and other platforms are usually much better value for larger values. indeed, we recently transferred a pension from Standard Life wrap to Standard Life Elevate due to lower charges on Elevate. Although if I was doing it today, it would go somewhere else.

If the IFA firm is large enough, they can get special pricing deals which bring the costs down. This does sometimes happen on Standard Life wrap and Elevate (and most of the other IFA platforms as well). So, we cant assume default pricing. (and large doesn't mean that large. We have special pricing with Aegon, Aviva and Std Life Elevate and we are an average sized firm)

As a platform though, Std Life wrap is fully functional. It uses FNZ software (the software used by more platforms than any other). The configuration is good and it does its job. Just as most platforms do. There is no issue on the software.

Platforms can be a bit like supermarkets. You buy the same things but range may differ. The environment is different and the pricing is different. Some will have a preference for one over another and someone else may be the other way around.

Alibert

Thanks, interesting.
Definitely independent .. I have learned that much from this forum :-)