TODAY’S BLOG

NUCLEUS AND JAMES HAY

The world of Financial Services can often seem dull, but many of us that have been around for a little longer than a week are very familiar with the frequent merging of financial services companies. This morning it has been announced that Nucleus have accepted an offer to be acquired by the James Hay Group. Many of our clients have holdings on the Nucleus platform.

Change is unsettling, the reality is that we can never prevent change, we simply must face it. Nucleus is, to be blunt, a rather brilliant company that we have been using for many years. The technology works and the culture which in no small part directly derives from David Ferguson have been a beacon in my sector. One of integrity, innovation, and transparency.

James Hay is a very large financial services company that mainly specialises in pensions. We have always been able to use them for our clients. We review the platforms we use each year and this is based on various criteria from “does it work?” to financial resilience. In truth, it would be improbable that Nucleus remains your platform forever – technology will always evolve.

Nucleus and James Hay

THE EVOLUTION CONTINUES

On the face of it, this looks like a sensible and good deal, but as always, we will keep things under review. Should we advise something different, we will do so. However, at this stage that would seem highly unlikely. We will watch the usual criteria and hope, as I am sure both firms do, that 1+1=3 where there are improvements and advantages (such as price reductions for clients on either or both).

David Ferguson, the Nucleus CEO who I interviewed for our last edition of Spotlight, says

Since we launched in 2006 we’ve always put the customer centre stage and while that has made us a little bit different it’s carried us to £17.4 billion in AUA and to a point where the sentiment of our users and our people has never been better. Becoming part of this enlarged group gives us a key role in a much bigger story where we can create a leading independent platform of scale with a high tech, high touch proposition and philosophy. I think the combination of our people’s talents and the size of the opportunity can see us carefully navigate the roadmap to deliver on this collective medium-term goal. I look forward to getting to know our new colleagues and moulding a group culture that is centred on doing the right thing and building a market-defining product that really delivers for advisers and their clients.”

I remain open-minded and aware that change ushers in anxiety. There is nothing significant that has altered but in time we hope for improvements, if these are not forthcoming we shall of course review the platform we are using for you. Please also note that one of the many reasons for selecting Nucleus is that there are no exit penalties. It is my hope that this will simply be nothing more than an advantage.

In the interests of the absence of doubt, I have never directly owned shares in any financial services company. In the beginning advisers were very much part of the Nucleus set-up and it was a requirement for them to have some financial stake in the company as part of its backing. I felt that this was a potential conflict of interest and didn’t buy shares (so I do miss out on this deal). I believe that I was the first or certainly one of the first advisers that Nucleus permitted access without buying shares. I may be wrong on that, but that’s what I understood to be the case.

In summary – I am not concerned, if this changes we will make changes – as you would expect.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk

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Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk 
Call – 020 8542 8084

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GET IN TOUCH

Solomon’s Independent Financial Advisers
The Old Mill Cobham Park Road, COBHAM Surrey, KT11 3NE

Email – info@solomonsifa.co.uk    Call – 020 8542 8084

7 QUESTIONS, NO WAFFLE

Are we a good fit for you?