‘Peripheral’ platforms facing exit threat as adviser needs evolve
Going forwards, advisers’ use of platforms will be divided into those “core” offerings and “peripheral” ones, with those in the latter category facing an existential threat.
According to Adviser Ratings, the number of platforms used by advisers has already fallen from an average of 2.31 in 2023 to 2.01 in 2025.
Part of this is attributed to the fact that advisers are dividing their platform usage into two camps.
“The market is rapidly bifurcating into essential ‘core’ platforms integral to advice practice operations and peripheral platforms used only for legacy products or niche purposes. To be designated as peripheral means to face an existential threat, as these platforms are most likely to be eliminated in the next efficiency drive."
Platforms that focus on pricing or their investment menu are among those facing the threat of departing advisers as more priority is now being given to factors such as speed and processing time which allow them to conduct business more efficiently.
These operational specialist platforms score highly on critical operational categories while perhaps sacrificing in areas like investment transparency, likely to be sought by efficiency-conscious advisers. As well as this, they may use an all-rounder that exhibits broad-based excellence and a holistic value proposition.
Adviser Ratings flagged that, for example, BT Panorama maintains one of the highest market penetration rates at 30 per cent yet posts relatively modest satisfaction scores, reflecting a disconnect between usage and satisfaction among advisers.
“Traditional competitive battlegrounds like pricing and investment options now contribute minimally to platform satisfaction scores. This doesn’t mean they’re unimportant – instead, they’ve become commoditised ‘table stakes’ where exceeding expectations yields little additional goodwill, but failing to meet minimum standards is disqualifying.
“Years of intense competition have compressed pricing into a relatively narrow band, and most major platforms now offer investment menus broad enough to satisfy mainstream adviser needs. The market has become ‘good enough’ on these core tenets for most advisers, forcing the competitive battleground ‘up the value stack’.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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