Platform One
Hallmark Savings Plan

An independent review by our team of experts

Platform One is a UK and International platform service, launched in 2011 by a group of established financial services firms. It has been designed with UK high-net-worth clients in mind, and also to meet the growing needs of the international market-place.

Platform One aims to provide advisers and their clients access to the benefits of a UK regulated wrap platform with good service standards.

Their UK services are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Platform One is registered in England and Wales. Their registered office is in Peartree Business Centre, Cobham Road, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 7PT.

Platform One's services seem to be broadly classified under two categories:

UK specific
International

Under their UK offerings, they provide:

UK platform services
Cash management services
Commercial partners and
Bespoke facilities.

Their International offerings include:

Overseas services
International plus services
Global services and
Commercial partners

The UK service is available to authorised UK and offshore advisers requiring a platform for client assets held in the UK. This means transparent fee-based Retail Distribution Review (RDR) compliant solutions.

The international service is offshore to the UK, and provides a multi-currency, client agreed fee-charging service. There is no initial fund fee, and 100% of any fund annual management charge rebates made by the fund manager are credited to the underlying client’s cash account.

The global service is also offshore to the UK, and offers a “traditional” commission service, with no explicit adviser charges.

Features of the Platform One Hallmark savings plan:

Platform One state that their Hallmark Savings Plan is a secure, innovative regular savings scheme for individuals working internationally, who want to make regular savings personally or through a company group pension scheme.
The savings plan may be denominated in US dollar, GB pound, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, Swedish krona (SEK) or Euro, which is an attractive feature.
In the UK, the Platform One Hallmark Savings Plan provides access to transparent fee-based solutions and investments that are RDR compliant.

For overseas advisers where RDR does not apply, Platform One provides a “traditional” commission-based alternative, and we do not recommend that.

Please read the 'expert verdict' section of this review for more details.

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The Pros

> Full flexibility with full withdrawal or full access in the early years without penalty

> No term required, therefore no surrender penalties

The Cons

> This is a fee driven product which must be paid at outset

> Minimum investment amounts required and regular trading could become expensive

> Many countries do not recognise any tax concessions

What are Platform One's fees and charges for the Hallmark savings plan?

At first glance we were impressed by the RDR compliant offering, and don’t get us wrong, the Platform One Hallmark savings plan is cheaper than many alternatives, but when we looked at the fees in a little more detail, we realised that they can soon add up.

Minimum establishment charge: £500

We are led to believe that advisers can charge more than this, and so this fee likely varies from adviser to adviser.
Annual platform charge: 0.30%
Annual portfolio charge: Euro 78
Adviser charges: 1% - 1.5%
Fund manager charges*: 1% - 1.5%

*ETFs and other low cost investment products are available which would reduce these charges.
Surrender charges: Zero

Total charges could be between 2.5% and 3%, depending on the underlying investments selected.

Charges, as you know, can potentially create a severe drag on performance, which will impact your investment returns.

Is the Platform One Hallmark savings plan flexible?

Unlike the contractual regular savings products offered by the life companies - such as Friends Provident Premier Savings Plan and RL360's Quantum - which can have high cost structures coupled with little flexibility regarding premiums that you have to pay into the policy, or investment choice - the Platform One Hallmark savings plan service offers a scheme for both personal savings and pension contributions that provides some flexibility.

Clients can stop and start contributions as circumstances dictate, or if they so decide, and assuming one is signed up to the RDR compliant relatively low-cost version, it’s simple to operate.

What are the investment choices with Hallmark?

Within the plan, clients or their advisers can choose from over 5,000 risk-rated funds covering all the major world markets and investment classes.

The funds section of Platform One's website contains performance statistics that are updated monthly.

Fund prices are updated daily, and fund fact sheets are also available for download.

Expert assessment of Platform One Hallmark savings plan

The Platform One Hallmark Savings plan looks to be a good offering (and the UK RDR compliant version also looks good), but international professionals are likely to get a less competitive and less transparent version.

We believe that there are more cost effective and better performing investment options available.

If you’re looking for the strongest possible growth on your investments, and you don’t want that to be undermined by high costs, or you are uncomfortable with your adviser accessing investments through an insurance wrapper and/or receiving kickback commission payments, then you may wish to consider alternative options.

If you already have a Platform One Hallmark Savings Plan and it is worth £500,000 or more, we strongly recommend you seek a Second Opinion to ensure you are on track to get and keep the life you want.

The information in this material is intended for the recipient’s background information and use only. It is provided in good faith and without any warranty or, representation as to accuracy or completeness. Information and opinions presented in this material have been obtained or derived from sources believed by AES to be reliable and AES has reasonable grounds to believe that all factual information herein is true as at the date of issue. It does not constitute investment advice, recommendation, or an offer of any services or products for sale and is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make an investment decision. It is the responsibility of any persons wishing to make a purchase to inform themselves of and observe all applicable laws and regulations. Unauthorised reproduction or transmitting of this material is strictly prohibited. AES accepts no responsibility for loss arising from the use of the information contained herein.

‘AES’ refers to the AES Group’s separate but affiliated entities generally, rather than to one particular entity. These entities are AES Middle East Insurance Broker LLC registered with the UAE Ministry of Economy, United Arab Emirates, Licence no. 571368, and Commercial Registration no. 75162 and regulated by the UAE Central Bank license no. 189; AES Financial Services Limited, incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 06063185, authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority FRN: 464494; AES Financial Services (DIFC) Ltd, registered in the Dubai Financial Centre (DIFC) as a foreign company, license no.2128, and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) Reference No F003476; AES International Limited, a private company incorporated and registered in the British Virgin Islands with company number 1839872; AES International Global Limited, a private company incorporated and registered in the British Virgin Islands with company number 1887885. Please visit our authorisations page for further information on regulation, redress and accessibility.

If you are outside the UK and we advise you or carry out other business, nearly all the rules, regulations and arrangements made under the UK regulatory regime (including the rules made by the FCA and the dispute resolution process provided by the UK Financial Ombudsman Service) will not apply to most aspects of the service you receive, such advice or business being provided from outside the UK. You should therefore clearly understand such rights and protection as are afforded in the jurisdiction where you receive advice. Local law, regulation and redress processes will apply in almost all cases, and will be different from that of the UK.

RISKS

Investments involve risks. The investment return and principal value of an investment may fluctuate so that an investment, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the capital invested. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee strategies will be successful. For further information, please click here.

Platform One
Hallmark Savings Plan

An independent review by our team of experts

REVIEW SUMMARY