Developing in-house platform propositions is being rejected by planners as a solution to poor service from platform providers, Financial Planners have told Financial Planning Today magazine, Financial Planning Today's sister publication.

Many planners told Financial Planning Today magazine that they had considered changing platform provider due to poor service received in 2024.

Despite this, most say that developing an in-house customised platform model is not an attractive solution, according to The Platform Report in the latest issue of Financial Planning Today magazine.

According to separate research from Next Wealth, half of firms with over £250m in assets under advice have adopted customised platform models.

But while advice firms are taking on some degree of platform customisation, they are not taking on the full regulatory responsibilities themselves.

The Financial Planners we spoke to agreed that while no platform proposition was perfect, few were tempted to develop their own in-house solution due to cost, complexity and the work involved.

Darren Cooke, Chartered Financial Planner at Red Circle Financial Planning, said an in-house platform was not something he would ever consider.

He said: “I think anyone considering an in-house platform must be stark raving mad. I know a couple who have done it and regretted it. You have all the costs, complexity and risk of running the platform, for little margin or gain.”

David Bashforth, partner at Derbyshire-based Belmayne Independent Financial Planner, said that building an in-house platform did not make sense for most Financial Planners and adviser firms.

He said: “We would never consider building our own platform. White labelling with a technology partner can only work if we have deep integration and we’re not there yet.”

Kieran Trevaskis, senior Paraplanner at Newcastle and Chorley-based financial advice firm River Birch Newman, said the firm had considered an in-house platform solution but rejected the idea.

• You can read the full Platform Report in the March-April edition of Financial Planning Today Magazine. You can access the online version via this link: https://bit.ly/3EX7Asd and subscription options are available.