Nearly all (95 per cent) advisers have had to apologise to their clients for poor platform service this year, with asset transfers identified as a particular problem, research from Parmenion has found.

Parmenion’s 2024 report, The Impact of Poor Platform Service, produced in conjunction with The Lang Cat, highlighted worsening service from investment platforms in 2024.

The proportion of financial advisers that have had to apologise to their clients on behalf of providers has risen compared to last year, Parmenion noted.

The research found that almost 30 per cent of respondents reported a ‘significant impact’ on their day-to-day work from poor service given by platforms.

In reaction to poor service, more advice firms were willing to switch platforms, the report showed, with 45 per cent of advisers having changed platforms in 2024 for this reason.

Platform transfers were found to be especially difficult, with 90 per cent of respondents thinking of a negative word or phrase when asked to sum up their experience of the asset transfer process.

Words and phrases advisers used to describe the process included ‘time consuming’, ‘painful’ and ‘onerous’.

One in five advisers said they had waited more than six months for a transfer to complete, while nearly 10 per cent had waited more than a year.

The research also found that 89 per cent of advisers felt that providers should agree a consensus and publish like-for-like transfer data.

Meanwhile, 75 per cent of firms preferred cash transfers for clients as they are more predictable and often faster, while 34 per cent of instances of contacting a platform was to chase up existing work in a queue.

“In the new era of Consumer Duty, this year’s report is a disappointing read,” commented Parmenion CEO, Martin Jennings.

“The advisers surveyed have even less confidence in platforms in 2024 than they did last year, which should be concerning to providers.

“Poor platform service is linked to a double-digit loss of productivity in advice firms, and we would appeal to the whole industry to ‘lean in’ and take accountability to improve the platform experience for everyone, especially when it comes to pain points such as transfers.

“None of us want or need more regulation, but unless we see meaningful improvements, I fear this is what we will get.”

The Lang Cat insight director, Steve Nelson, stated: “One year on from the inaugural Impact of Poor Service report, we have seen things get worse for adviser firms and their clients.

“Platforms must embrace technology and improve their processes to better serve advisers and their clients, or as we’ve seen in 2024, advisers will punish them by selecting a better alternative.”

---