How the RBS-Standard Life tie-up will affect advisers

Imagine signing a deal that nets you a million new customers. Difficult, isn’t it? Yet that is effectively what Standard Life did earlier this month. A five-year tie up will allow RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank branch advisers to use the Standard Life wrap to manage their customers’ investments. The benefits for Standard Life are obvious. With platform providers being squeezed by IFAs and their clients, the deal captures revenue “all the way through”, said Richard Charnock, head of the firm’s adviser and investment unit. Branch advisers will use point-of-sale software Focus360, acqui...