Sep 17, 2021

17th September 20219:30 am Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 17 September, 2021. To get this in your inbox every morning click here. Migration ‘biggest barrier to growth’ AJ Bell CEO Andy Bell has said migration is the biggest barrier to growth for the platform market. He said it is “no good for anyone in the market if the platforms are falling over”, as it affects the perception of the whole sector. Bell made the comment during an interview with editor Katey Pigden at Money Marketing Interactive in Harrogate this week. Permanent CTO for Nucleus/James Hay tie-up Andrew Smith has been confirmed as permanent chief technology officer (CTO) for the combined Nucleus and James Hay platform group. Also, look out for the October issue of Money Marketing, coming soon, in which editor Katey Pigden meets James Hay chief executive Richard Rowney. What is a platform? Debate still lingers about what a platform is. Clive Waller, managing director of CWC Research, asks: is there for scope for advisers to have their own ‘admin hubs’ in their tech? Quote Of The Day Through no fault of my own, regulatory fees have grown more than my waistline after a trip to America – Warren Shute, author of The Money Plan, speaking about the burden of regulation at Money Marketing Interactive in Harrogate earlier this week Stat Attack Source: Barclays In Other News HSBC Asset Management has appointed Caroline Keany as a senior portfolio manager within the Emerging Markets Debt investment team. Keany joined on 6 September and reports to the head of global emerging market debt, Bryan Carter. She will join Julio Obeso as co-manager of all the firm’s Emerging Markets corporate debt strategies. With over 20 years’ experience, Keany joins from EMSO Asset Management, where she held several roles. Most recently, she was senior portfolio manager and partner responsible for directing a team of analysts. She also led EM corporate debt investments for the firm’s total return hedge funds. Keany’s previous investment roles were as a portfolio manager at Dillon Read Capital Management (now UBS Securities) and as a credit analyst at Moore Capital. Apex Group has entered into a joint venture with VCP Advisor. As part of this strategic partnership, VCP Advisors will re-brand as Apex VCP. VCP Advisors works with firms as well as closed-ended and open-ended funds across areas such as private equity, private credit, venture capital, infrastructure, etc. It provides advisory, capital raising and restructuring services to the institutional and family office investor community. This partnership will enable clients to benefit from VCP’s experience in alternative asset management advisory while getting access to the wider Apex Group’s single-source solution. The joint venture further supports the Group’s expansion strategy for global fund marketing and distribution services. This announcement follows the recent launch of CSSF-regulated FundRock Distribution S.A. as well as the acquisitions of ARM Swiss Representatives SA. and Senasen Group. J O Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) has appointed Andrew Parry as head of investments and member of the executive team. Parry will join JOHCM in mid-February 2022 and will be based in London. He will provide investment oversight to JOHCM’s 14 investment teams, such as Regnan, JOHCM’s responsible investment arm. Parry has over 30 years of asset management experience. His focus is on equities, investment strategy, business development, leadership and strategic client relationships. He most recently served as head of sustainable investing at Newton Investment Management. Prior to this, Parry was at Hermes Investment Management for 13 years where he was head of sustainable Investing. While at Hermes, he formed the Impact Opportunities team with Tim Crockford. Crockford now heads up the Equity Impact Solutions team at Regnan. From Elsewhere Unpublished ECB inflation estimate raises prospect of earlier rate rise ( Financial Times ) Scotland faces £8.5bn black hole after independence vote ( The Telegraph ) Did You See? Amazon has already established a tie-in with Indian insurer Acko General Insurance, and funded a fintech in the country. Is Amazon financial services on its way to the UK? In response to a leader column I wrote speculating about whether Amazon will move into the UK wealth management space, well-respected Money Marketing columnist Nic Cicutti gives his thoughts . 17th September 20219:30 am