Speaking to Money Marketing in his first interview since joining the firm as UK managing director of retail life and pensions in January from HBOS, Barry O’Dwyer says we will probably look back on the current generation of platforms in the same way we look at “Commodore 64s”.
He says: “I suspect that in the future it will be unacceptable for a provider to say that you cannot use a product because it is not on the platform. There is a significant danger that current platforms get leapfrogged. Some of the technology providers might be the same but the headline names might be different.”
He says more IFA groups will look to build multi-provider wraps, which is something the insurer is keen to support.
O’Dwyer says: “Conceptually, that is a stronger proposition and also, in a market where there are multi-provider wraps, I cannot imagine how the regulator will regard somebody that uses a single-provider wrap as independent. We will not launch our own platform.”
Thomas and Thomas managing director Darren Lloyd Thomas says: “Launching its own platform would not play to Prudential’s strengths and IFAs would question its independence. But while distributor-owned models are good from an independence perspective, the problem is buying power and whether they can afford all the best tools and functionality.”