Standard Life agreed to sell the only stake it held in an IFA business because it wanted to put "clear blue water" between itself and independent advice models, distribution director Stephen Ingledew says.
The savings and investments provider this week offloaded a 15% holding in national IFA 2plan Wealth Management to multi-tie proposition Openwork. Ingledew says the company feared accusations of a conflict of interest after 2012 due to its link with 2plan and wanted to be seen to serve "the whole IFA market, not just one or two firms". "We took a long, hard look at our distribution strategy last year and, with RDR round the corner, we came to the conclusion that we did not want to own or part control any IFA business. "We regard 2plan as a great business and were very happy with our...
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