The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on Monday that it’s commencing a study of retail investment platforms to look at whether retail investors are getting good value from one of the biggest distribution channels in the U.K.’s retail market.
Following the recent research into the asset-management business, which raised concerns about industry competition, the FCA will examine investment platforms to examine whether they help” investors make good investment decisions and whether their investment solutions offer investors value for money.”
Read: FCA proposes reforms for U.K. asset-management industry
Investment platforms have seen their assets under administration (AUA) grow to £592 billion in 2016 from £108 billion in 2008, according to the FCA. Its study will look at both platforms that distribute retail products and administer client assets and firms that provide similar services by allowing investors to access retail investment products through an online portal.
The sector is becoming increasingly vertically integrated, the FCA says, with relationships between platforms, asset managers, discretionary investment managers and financial advisors, that “have the potential to distort competition” by encouraging firms put the industry’s interests ahead of the interests of the consumer.
The FCA notes that intermediated platforms, which investors can access through their advisors, hold a larger market share, but that direct to consumer platforms are “becoming a more important way for consumers to access retail investment products.”
“With the increasing use of platforms, and the issues raised by our previous work, we want to assess whether competition between platforms is working in the interest of consumers. Platforms have the potential to generate significant benefits for consumers and we want to ensure consumers are receiving these benefits in practice,” says Christopher Woolard, executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, in a statement.
The FCA is seeking feedback on the planned research by Sept. 8. It’s planning to publish an interim report by next summer, which will set out its preliminary conclusions and any potential remedies.