An investment platform operated by Hargreaves Lansdown enjoyed the strongest asset growth among UK direct-to-consumer (D2C) platforms with £16 billion (€18.2 billion) of growth in 2017, according to figures published today.
Fundscape’s quarterly analysis of the UK platform sector found that good all-round service was the main driver behind the firm’s successful performance last year.
But the report added that Hargreaves Lansdown had “also benefited from the fallout of high-profile problems at other D2C platforms”.
With fourth quarter gross sales for the entire UK platform sector just shy of £33 billion, it was the second best quarter on record while annual sales were a record-breaking £126 billion, up 34% against 2016’s gross sales of £93.7 billion.
Fundscape chief executive Bella Caridade-Ferreira said: “2017 was a great year for the platform and fund industries thanks to defined-benefit transfers and pension freedoms.
“We expect business to remain robust, but with increased volatility on the cards this year, these sales trends are unlikely to be maintained in 2018.”
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