IFA Investment Proposition Strategy Research

 

In-depth research on behalf of a Discretionary Fund Manager to understand Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) firms’ decision-making behaviour around their centralised investment proposition (CIP). 

 

Ultimately our client wanted to drive increased market share by designing solutions that tapped into underlying unmet needs of adviser firms and their clients.


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The challenge

The current proposition, process and platforms are typically working well within IFA firms with most firms having a mixture of investment solutions within their CIP. At the time of the research our client was only supporting one aspect of the CIP, which was hypothesised to be restricting growth.

 

Our client needed to understand how best to extend its proposition and what expertise, service and technology to leverage to best support adviser firms.

The approach

In-depth qualitative research through 24 extensive interviews with IFA respondents involved in their firm’s CIP decision. Different segments of IFA firms with centralised investment propositions were included across small, regional and national firms.

Interviews drilled down into current behaviours, pain points and untapped needs to establish what would drive consideration and, ultimately, share of wallet for our client.

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The result

The research provided deep insight into the behaviour of IFA firms with clear recommendations to our client on how to extend and enhance the proposition to be able to support more of a firm’s CIP. The research also highlighted some potential hooks and USPs to capture attention.

Following the research, the proposition has been successfully adapted and relaunched in line with IFA business models and decision-making behaviour.