Platforms: Your route of choice

Now we have had some time to digest the recently published RDR policy and platform discussion papers, what should we make of the implications for advisers using platforms today and in the run-up to 2012? There are some clear issues for the fund supermarkets and their users, given the likely direction of policy on charging transparency, fund rebates and re-registration, but here we focus specifically on the much-debated issue of independence and the use of platforms. The FSA statement that ‘…a platform is a service, not a product. However, they can display product features…’ (DP10/02, 3.6...