HUB24 tops platform functionality ranking

Now in its 19th year, the Investment Trends 2022 Platform Benchmarking and Competitive Analysis Report has seen HUB24 reclaim the top spot from last year’s leader, Netwealth.

Investment trends said the report found that platforms have shown a continued commitment to supporting advisers with enhancing their advice provision to clients, as well as modernising and de-risking their businesses.

HUB24 had an overall platform functionality score of 91.5 per cent, edging out Netwealth (90.7 per cent) and Praemium (89.9 per cent). BT Panorama (84.7 per cent) and Mason Stevens (83.3 per cent) rounded out the top five.

Investment Trends said that all platforms delivered a significant breadth of new functionality over the last year. For the second year in a row, Mason Stevens posted the largest relative increase in score, closely followed by Praemium and HUB24.

“All platforms have particularly sharpened their focus on the investment menu,” said Paul McGivern, director at Investment Trends.

The research firm noted that managed accounts continue to appeal to advisers over the last 12 months, and platforms have significantly expanded the number of models and managers on offer to meet this demand.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is another area that has received a great deal of attention.

“This year, several platforms have introduced new integrations with third-party ESG ratings and analytics providers, as well as reporting and other resources to support the provision of ESG advice,” said Mr McGivern.

When it comes to cyber security, Investment Trends said platforms are adopting a staged approach.

Mr McGivern said, “2022 saw all platforms implementing multifactor authentication (MFA), but we believe this is only the beginning.”

“Some providers are already exploring behaviour-based alerting to improve their cyber security measures — this will certainly be an interesting area to continue to monitor.

“Last but certainly not least, retirement income has been at the centre of a range of initiatives by a number of platforms.

“This has translated into a material step up in the range of annuities, capital-protected funds, and longevity protection funds added to the investment menu, as well as the development of new retirement calculators and modelling tools.”