Onshore bond use is taking a growing share of platform flows as advisers recommend life assurance bonds to mitigate tax rises, research by Platforum has found.
Meanwhile, outflows from pensions, Isas and unwrapped accounts continue to climb, as some investors withdraw assets and advisers switch assets between platforms.
Platforum’s latest ‘UK Adviser Platforms: Investment Propositions’ report revealed a mixed quarter for the market.
Assets under administration shrank by 0.8% in Q1 2025, falling £6.94bn to £865.22bn at the end of March.
Poor investment performance was a contributing factor to the fall.
The decline is roughly in line with the MSCI Pimfa Private Investor Balanced index, which fell 0.86% over the same period.
However, platform net flows continued to recover over Q1.
In aggregate, net flows onto platforms were £5.88bn – the highest since Q1 2022.
Adviser platforms have had a difficult few years and, although 2024 was better than 2023, platform outflows are still high in Q1 2025.
Platforum associate analyst Lottie Bussell-Ahern pointed out that investors withdrawing assets for expenditure and moving into cash resulted in these high outflows.
She warned financial planning is set to become “more complex” over the next few months and years.
“Cuts to tax allowances, fiscal drag and changes to inheritance tax will make planning more involved, putting more pressure on platforms around functionality – especially for trusts and life assurance bonds,” she added.
“Historically, it was common for this business to be written off-platform, but advisers now seem more interested in holding wrappers such as onshore and offshore bonds on platforms.”
Meanwhile, the report also revealed that the top six of the Platforum User Leaderboard remained unchanged over Q1, as voted by financial advisers.
- P1 Platform
- True Potential
- Parmenion
- Fundment
- Transact
- Quilter
Newer and smaller platforms tend to be rated more highly by advisers.
The P1 Platform and Fundment are both well regarded by their users, especially for the quality of their tools, ease of use and value for money.
Parmenion and Transact scored highly for customer service and BDM support.
Quilter has climbed the Platforum User Leaderboard over the last couple of years, with scores increasing around its technical support and value for money.
Bussell-Ahern said: “Adviser platforms are having to keep up with a rapidly changing advice market.
“Our research finds that advisers are becoming more focused on efficiency and productivity.
“Subsequently, their use of platforms is becoming more strategic, with a push toward using fewer systems.”
