AJ Bell has launched a retirement investment account (RIA), which is a pension with a “streamlined” investment proposition.
It has been designed to “hit the pricing and investment options sweet spot” for advised clients with pensions of around £250,000 ($325,000, €292,000) or less.
The RIA will sit alongside its existing self-invested personal pension (Sipp) on the AJ Bell Investcentre platform for financial advisers.
The different pricing structure and investment range will allow advisers to match the AJ Bell RIA and Sipp to different client segments, keeping up with Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (Prod) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II) regulations.
Cost
The RIA will have an all-in cost of 0.25% per annum for assets up to £500,000 and 0.2% per annum on assets over £500,000.
There are no other fees for setup, administration, dealing or drawdown.
Advisers will be able to use tools to help with investment analysis, bulk dealing, regular investments, cash management and capital gains reporting.
The investment options include full access to AJ Bell’s funds and shares service; alongside its managed portfolio service, retirement portfolio service and multi-asset funds.
It does not provide access to AJ Bell’s panel of investment partners or ‘off-panel’ investments, including commercial property.
Competitive
Andy Bell, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “The new retirement investment account has been designed to meet demand from advisers for a low-cost platform pension with an all-in pricing structure and comprehensive investment range to suit a particular segment of clients.
“Mifid and Prod regulations have made it clearer than ever to advisers that they need to be recommending products that are demonstrably suitable for client needs.
“Launching the RIA, alongside our existing Sipp, provides advisers with real strength in depth as they seek to meet that challenge.
“The RIA provides a combination of simple, low-cost charges, whilst not losing any of the functionality of the platform and still offering a very wide range of investment options.
“The RIA’s all-in pricing structure is very competitive compared to other similar products and we believe it could be ideal for advisers looking to use our funds and shares service, managed portfolio service or multi-asset funds as a simple, packaged solution for clients with pension portfolios of £250,000 or less.”
Vanguard
Bell’s use of competitive pricing is very timely, as US passive investing giant Vanguard confirmed it was entering the UK financial advice market.
Known for its low-cost products, the firm was granted regulatory approval to provide retail advice by the Financial Conduct Authority.
In a letter to clients seen by International Adviser; Sean Hagerty, head of Europe, said: “The provision of advice will never be one-size-fits-all.
“Investors should have access to advice that is robust, low cost and puts their interests first.”
