Platforms: How to get the most out of... Skandia

In the latest part of our popular series examining those little known features and tools on your favourite platform, we look at Skandia.

Portfolio planning

Skandia has recently launched a new and improved version of its platform portfolio planning tool U-Skan 2.0 which has some powerful enhancements enabling financial advisers to measure and demonstrate the value of investment advice they are giving to clients.

A unique feature of U-Skan 2.0 is its ability to show clients’ portfolio performance over time, accounting for historic fund switches and rebalancing. The tool also enables advisers to run ‘what if’ scenarios to show what would have happened to portfolios if an advice recommendation such as a fund switch or portfolio rebalance had not happened - thereby helping advisers demonstrate the value of their advice.

In addition, U-Skan 2.0 allows advisers to study the underlying assets of existing Skandia customer accounts, model portfolios, individual funds or all of a customer’s existing unit-linked holdings. In a click, it gives advisers interactive cumulative performance charts and risk/return data, a breakdown of a portfolio’s underlying holdings by asset class, geographical region and stock sector and lists the top ten holdings.

Bulk switching

Skandia says the ability to bulk switch client investments sets it apart from most other offerings but is something that perhaps not all advisers will be aware of. Advisers with the right level of permissions can quickly move client money at the click of the button rather than having to switch particular funds on an individual client basis.

The feature is particularly useful when markets experience extreme volatility, enabling an adviser to quickly switch a large number of clients from a fund that may have suffered a sudden drop in performance to one of the other funds on its platform. It does not apply an administration charge for fund switches.

Own technology

Unlike some platforms, Skandia owns its own technology – something it says gives it a huge amount of in-house expertise and enables it to lead rather than follow. The fact its online tools such as U-Skan consistently win industry awards is evidence of this expertise in practice, it adds.