Nearly all advisers (95%) have had to apologise to clients for poor platform service, research from Parmenion and the lang cat has found.
Parmenion’s 2024 ‘The Impact of Poor Platform Service’, reveals worsening service from investment platforms this year.
The 95% of financial advisers that have had to apologise to their clients on behalf of providers over the last year represents an increase from 2023’s report.
The research is based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Autumn 2024 with 172 members of the lang cat’s adviser panel.
Asset transfers are a particular problem, according to the report, with 90% of respondents thinking of a negative word or phrase when asked to sum up their experience of the process.
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The research also found that almost 30% of respondents reported a ‘significant impact’ on their day-to-day work from poor service given by platforms.
More advice firms are willing to switch platforms in reaction to poor service, the report shows. Some 45% of advisers said they have changed platforms in 2024 for this reason.
Other key findings from the report include 82% of individuals said that poor service is having a significant impact on their day-to-day working lives; 89% of the profession agree that providers should agree a consensus and publish like-for-like transfer data; three quarters of firms (75%) prefer cash transfers for clients as they are more predictable and often faster, and one in three instances (34%) of contacting a platform is to chase up existing work in a queue.
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Parmenion CEO Martin Jennings said: “In the new era of Consumer Duty, this year’s report is a disappointing read. The advisers surveyed have even less confidence in platforms in 2024 than they did last year, which should be concerning to providers.
“Poor platform service is linked to a double digit loss of productivity in advice firms, and we would appeal to the whole industry to ‘lean in‘ and take accountability to improve the platform experience for everyone, especially when it comes to pain points such as transfers.
“None of us want or need more regulation, but unless we see meaningful improvements, I fear this is what we will get.”
The lang cat insight director, Steve Nelson, added: “One year on from the inaugural ‘Impact of Poor Service’ report, we have seen things get worse for adviser firms and their clients.
“Platforms must embrace technology and improve their processes to better serve advisers and their clients, or as we’ve seen in 2024, advisers will punish them by selecting a better alternative.”
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