Zurich: Our platform will not 'nick' your clients

Zurich has pledged its new platform will focus solely on the intermediary sector and will not target adviser clients like other “predatory” players entering the B2C space.

The company, which unveiled its new proposition at The Platforum conference in central London yesterday, voiced concerns about platforms approaching adviser clients - and vowed it will never steal business from IFAs.

"Not all platforms have the best intentions of advisers at heart or are fully committed to the adviser market" said Zurich intermediary sales director Richard Howells.

"I hear stories of platforms wanting to communicate directly with clients. But we will say in our terms and conditions we will not nick your clients."

He stressed Zurich's retail platform, set for launch at the end of the year, will be a purely intermediary offering and will support an array of adviser propositions including restricted and tied models.

"This platform is built by advisers for advisers," Howells said. "For us, intermediated distribution is the most profitable."

Powered by FNZ, the platform comes with an unbundled charging structure and offers two-way integration, enabling it to plug into different adviser software and technology.

"It is not about selling a sub-standard back-office proposition," said Howells.

Advisers will also be able to put their own branding on the platform.

Zurich said its retail platform will not be the cheapest in the market, but  it will concentrate on ease of use, trust, value for money and financial strength.

With around 24 current players vying for market share, the insurer enters a highly competitive arena.

"We may be late to market but we have learnt from the mistakes of others and are here to stay," said Howells.

Skandia marketing director Nick Dixon welcomed Zurich's assault on the platform market: "Any entrant we look at carefully but competition is healthy," he said.