Nucleus nears profitability after strong Q2

Nucleus saw nearly £400m of new business in the second quarter of 2011 as the IFA-owned wrap nears sustained profitability.

The Edinburgh-based wrap attracted £397m of new business during the quarter - a 40% increase on last year - and is now just £9m short of boasting £3bn assets under management, four-and-a-half years since launch.

CEO David Ferguson (pictured) said the wrap is on target to hit sustained profitability by the back-end of Q3.

The bumper half-year has seen a host of new IFAs sign up to Nucleus and Ferguson said the wrap is currently holding discussions with around 180 firms.

"We signed up 50% more firms in the first half of this year than we did in the whole of last year," he said.

He is also eyeing further growth in its model portfolio proposition which currently holds seven discretionary fund managers with a further ten lined up. 

The wraps' self-service model portfolio option allows advisers more control over creating and rebalancing investments.

Meanwhile, Nucleus member firms have produced a new guide to platform due diligence. The guide, Questions advisers should ask platforms today, has been specifically prepared with the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) in mind and is designed to appeal to advisers considering both initial platform adoption and retention of an existing platform.