Cofunds

Allfunds' Holly Mackay says Brett Williams' shock departure has come at a crucial point in platforms' development.

The departure of Brett Williams, the very public face and driving force behind a revitalised Cofunds, has shocked the platform world.

Cofunds chief executive Brett Williams has quit the platform with immediate effect with chairman Charlie Eppinger resuming the CEO role on an interim basis.

Cofunds has poached staff from Skandia and Scottish Widows as it expands its sales team with the appointment of four account managers.

Cofunds believes there is still time to influence the FSA and prevent a proposed ban on fund manager rebates and bundled charges as the regulator's response to the discussion paper is set to be delayed until September.

The Cautious Managed and Balanced Managed sectors gained momentum on Cofunds during May as advisers look increasingly to diversified sectors.

AXA Elevate has poached three members of Cofunds' regional sales team who become distribution directors.

Asset allocation will be the focus of Cofunds' summer platform conference which kicks-off in Harrogate on 9 June.

The FSA could be forced into a major U-turn on platform regulation as the UK's big three providers, with over 80% of total assets, labeled its proposals as "unworkable" in responses to the Discussion Paper.

Cofunds' profits fell to £2.3m last year as the market downturn took hold, but the company underlined its "strong position" owing to a surge in assets onto the platform.