Prime Time Financial

21st Century Investing

Investment portfolios generally hold investments from a variety of product providers and fund managers. That means you potentially have to deal with a number of different companies. Obtaining separate valuations, issuing investment instructions, managing your tax situation, or simply updating your personal details can involve different systems and be very time consuming.

An investment "platform" makes life less complicated for today's investor. You can consolidate most if not all of your investment portfolio in one location, with a single valuation statement covering everything. Switches between investments are generally easier, as is making use of each year's ISA allowance.

Different platforms cover different investment types - not all cover pensions, or investment trusts, for example. They also offer different facilities, so it's worth doing some research and choosing the most appropriate. Online access can generally be provided, or you might prefer to rely on your financial adviser to do things for you. Either way, a platform significantly reduces your paperwork, eliminating correspondence to and from fund managers and product providers.

Cost is always something to consider, too. You might think that the extra administration service you receive would cost more. That isn't necessarily the case - depending on the types of investment you hold, it is often cheaper than going direct to the investment provider, such as the fund manager.

You should bear in mind, though, that investing in funds through a platform rather than directly means that you will not receive individual voting rights in those funds since they are held by the platform as nominee. Similarly, you will not receive any fund manager reports that might be distributed to direct investors.

Last reviewed 31st August 2011