Insurance firms doomed by wraps?

In a document leaked to Professional Adviser, Morgan Stanley’s research team said it believed insurers’ business models were now under threat from external managers in the wrap market, because they would have little to offer after the wrapper was removed from products. The report states: “Wraps offer advisers and their clients access to a wide range of tax wrappers with the benefit of consolidated on-line reporting, all without the need for a traditional insurer.” The analysts believe most life products from insurers are now effectively mutual funds within a product wrapper, and given...