Skandia, a subsidiary of South African insurance giant Old Mutual, has announced that it is to restructure its UK businesses and merge Skandia Life, Skandia MultiFunds and Selestia to create the largest fund platform in the country.
The new business structure will give financial advisers a single, easy to understand market proposition. It will provide advisers with a comprehensive range of products and one sales team with which to interact. The breadth of the product proposition will support all adviser businesses that have begun the journey away from the traditional with-profits life office model towards unit-linked investment solutions.
To facilitate this industry change, Skandia’s UK proposition provides a broad range of products, services, charging structures and remuneration options. This will include Skandia Life’s MultiManager pension, bond and protection products; the new open-architecture fund supermarket combining elements of the current Skandia MultiFunds and Selestia platforms; and, in the future, a full wealth management service.
Nick Poyntz-Wright, group CEO of Skandia UK and offshore, commented: I believe advisers want a single relationship with a provider that is able to work with them through every stage of their business development. Having one UK business with a single focus on that relationship will ensure Skandia is uniquely well placed to support adviser’s own business development plans and to cater for changing needs in a transitional industry.