Parmenion adds new charges to cover costs
Investment platform Parmenion is to introduce new charges to help cover the cost of work involved in selected products.
The firm will levy a quarterly SIPP charge, a minimum monthly custody charge, a new dealing charge and will introduce an annual DFM charge on its passive solutions from January.
The platform said it will add the new charges due to “transparency and recognising that certain products and services carry additional costs.”
It added that the fees, “represent a more realistic reflection of the work we do” and the service which clients receive.
The addition of the new charges comes just a couple of months after Standard Life Aberdeen completed its sale of Parmenion to private equity house Preservation Capital Partners, in a £102m deal which was announced in March.
The investment platform will introduce an annual DFM charge on its passive solutions of 0.12%, for the first time since the range launched in 2007.
The platform will also introduce a quarterly Parmenion SIPP charge of £18 + VAT.
The new dealing charge on purchases in fund switches and rebalances across all Parmenion Investment Management (PIM) solutions will be 0.45%.
There will also be a minimum monthly custody charge of £5 per client. All other custody fees will remain the same. This charge will not apply for JISAs, JSIPPs, or Interact portfolios. It is only applicable for clients over 18 with investments under £20k.
The annual DFM charge for PIM active solutions will, however, fall to 0.24%.
Parmenion manages £8bn of assets on behalf of over 2,500 advisers and 68,000 clients.
Martin Jennings, CEO at Parmenion, said: “We are fortunate to have extremely high advocacy of our adviser partners, and we don’t take that for granted. While we are told that price is not the most important factor in client suitability, it is essential that we provide a valued service at a price that allows us to continually invest in our products and services.
“To support our rapid growth, we need to stay competitive, and we believe these changes across our DFM solutions and our platform achieve that.
“We often hear from our customers that a race to the bottom on price is a fool’s errand. We agree, and believe that advisers will continue to support platforms, like ours, who focus on value rather than price, whilst providing excellent levels of service across the product range and platform.”
New parent company for the platform, Preservation Capital Partners (PCP), specialises in acquiring financial services businesses. Its current portfolio includes Lloyds broker BMS and insurance managing agent Optio. It said it will treat Parmenion as a standalone acquisition with no plans for major changes and no integration planned with other businesses.
Former Standard Life Aberdeen joint chief executive Martin Gilbert’s AssetCo also acquired a 30% stake in Parmenion Capital Partners. AssetCo is expected to pay £27.8m for the stake.