The head of a Paraplanning firm has attacked platforms for "wholly unacceptable" service and "poor testing".

Paraplanner Nathan Fryer, founder and MD of The PlanWorks in London, told Financial Planning Today magazine, that platforms should stop using planners as guinea pigs.

Read the full 5 page cover feature on platforms including insight from the Lang Cat's Mark Polson HERE.

Processes are falling down, Mr Fryer believes, due to the "transition period" across the platforms sector. This time of change has included FundsNetwork moving to Bravura, Aviva switching from Bravura to FNZ and Old Mutual terminating its contract with IFDS to work with FNZ on its replatforming project.

Mr Fryer said: "In my mind this is largely down to poor testing prior to release, if they want advisers and or Paraplanners to be Guinea pigs then we should be remunerated for it, instead of our clients have to pay for an offering that is wholly unacceptable."

Consolidation was a key theme in 2017, with major acquisitions by AEGON (Cofunds), Standard Life (AXA Elevate) and Interactive Investor (The Motley Fool, TD Direct, Trustnet Direct). 

Mr Fryer said: "The main challenges we are facing in recent months is getting to grips with any new platform systems, understanding whether it is user error or platform error and then identifying the most cost effective share class than the platform is allowed to use which can be very difficult when some firms operate 3 or 4 different share classes of the same fund."

Read Mr Fryer's comments in full as well as views from other leading Paraplanners and Financial Planners HERE.

This issue also features:

• Inside My Business with Alan Gow of Argonaut Paraplanning who reveals some major plans for his company

• Planner Casebook – Paraplanner and Chartered Financial Planner Kim Sare explains why a DB transfer can sometimes be the right move for a client

• Columns from leading Financial Planner Julie Lord, PFS chief executive Keith Richards, CISI head of Financial Planning Jackie Lockie, Paraplanner Richard Allum and other key commentators

• A 5 page Special Report from James Nadal on the latest developments in Platforms

• New Investment Insider and DFM section with 200 DFMs listed plus DFM news

Plus lots more.

Our last issue was the most read ever so see what thousands of other Financial Planners, Paraplanners and Wealth Managers are reading.