Advisers warn of portal pricing threat to whole of market advice

Advisers have warned their whole of market status could be threatened by the number of different ‘best quotes’ on offer from financial research portals.

The Money Advice Service (MAS), Assureweb and Avelo Exchange claim to offer a quicker alternative to calling life companies direct while offering the best available quote on a range of financial products.

But some advisers comparing quotes across the three tools found they returned different ‘best’ quotes for the same client, as providers were knocked off some results lists despite offering the top deal on others.

Mark Loosmore, from IT consultancy AT8, said: “There shouldn’t be this inconsistency. Post-RDR this may come down to a discussion about what whole of market really means.”

IFAs who realised the discrepancy said they have felt obliged to run all three tools to ensure they offer a genuine whole of market option to clients, which could treble their workload.

Alistair Cunningham, principal at Wingate Financial, said for one client couple seeking a standard annuity, only two out of the three tools returned the same best quote.

“With a standard annuity there is one specific best option for the client, but using only one tool I may not have known the best deal to follow up. The total lack of consistency is tripling my workload.”

MAS said Avelo Exchange provides the data for its annuity tables. But IFAonline has seen documents showing the two portals returned different quotes for the same couple.

Dave Miller, head of provider relationships at Avelo Exchange, said quotes can vary from firm to firm based on providers’ terms with individual adviser firms.

“The MAS annuity comparison tool uses Avelo Exchange’s back office system, which will return quotes based on providers’ default quote setting for that product. For advisers who go directly through Avelo, providers return quotes based on the specific terms they have agreed with the adviser firm.

“Larger firms may have been able to agree special terms. So the quotes may vary.”
On its website, the MAS states better rates may be available as some providers offer higher “loyalty” rates to their existing clients. It does not show these rates in the table but points out which providers offer them.

A spokesperson added: “At the start of the process we ask the customer key questions, to provide illustrative rates, not actual quotes.”

Variances could also be created by the depths of questions fed into the quote engines, which could exclude some quotes, Loosmore said.

The MAS comparison tool asks the fewest and least detailed questions, with no technical element, while Assureweb is more detailed and Avelo Exchange is the most in-depth.

“It could be more dangerous to compare quotes across three tools which ask for different data,” Loosmore said.

To add to the confusion, not all providers give quotes on each of the portals. Aegon, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Axa and Friends Life have chosen not to supply quotes on the MAS, which only lists rates for the “most popular annuities”.

Loosmore recommended advisers choose one tool to deliver consistent results across all clients, and to couple it with robust individual due diligence.

Ian Teague, commercial director at Assureweb, said the portal is striving to make services as accurate as possible.

“We understand the need for advisers to get the most accurate information possible in the first instance,” he said.