PA's Platform Market Study: Is vertical integration failing on client costs?

'Anchorman and his deep burn'

Tom Ellis
clock • 7 min read

In the second article of our series looking into the Platform Market Study, Tom Ellis looks at how vertical integration and commercial relationships affect the platform market and, in particular, how they affect the cost of investing for advised clients

Vertical integration and other such commercial relationships have been a hot topic since the FCA said they raise "questions about competition dynamics and value for money" as a prelude to the release of its market review's terms of reference. The fact the watchdog would raise such issues before it launched its platform market study goes some way to suggest how the FCA will approach this part of its review, as do the two questions it asks stakeholders. Specifically, it wants to know: Are platforms and similar firms able and willing to negotiate a competitive price on investment charges...

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