Avalon to launch D2C option for IFAs in summer

Avalon is launching a direct-to-consumer version of its platform for advisers servicing lower income clients.

The streamlined version of the wrap launches in August with two IFA firms set to sign white label deals.

Avalon director Harry Kerr says the new model will allow IFAs to compete in the lower-end of the market and attract orphan clients disenfranchised in the post-RDR world.

"This comes out of RDR - it is all well and good IFAs providing a holistic service to middle-income clients but how do advisers serve the client who just needs an ISA or has £10,000 to invest?" he says.

"This initiative is empowering IFAs and will enable them to still play a part in the lower end of the market by having a D2C presence on the internet."

The new platform will be a simplified version of the current model offering a range of funds as well as model portfolios. Kerr says adapting Avalon's current technology will be a relatively straightforward undertaking and will be facilitated by the launch of its online application facility in April.

He is keen to stress Avalon will not approach consumers directly and says the venture into the D2C market will help IFAs attract new clients unable to pay for full advice.

"This will be driven by IFAs themselves and so poses no conflict of interest issues," he says. "We live and die by our IFAs."

He adds advisers will soon face a transformed adviser landscape.

"For the past couple of years, a lot of IFA businesses have been working out how they will get to RDR and thinking about qualifications etc but people are now thinking once the exams have been taken what kind of market are we going to be in?

"There is a new world with new opportunities out there."

Avalon's foray into the direct market comes as research from The Platforum suggests the rapidly emerging D2C market is set for significant growth on the back of consumer demand for execution-only services.

Axa Elevate is also developing a consumer-driven version of Elevate allowing advisers to transact directly on the platform.