Even Old Mutual and Skandia’s technology migration was what he calls “botched and abandoned”.
His tips for any prospective platform consolidator brave enough to try this type of project were: “Be massively aware of the technology headache to come.
“Cost the money it is going to take and triple it. Work out the time it will take and triple it. And be open and honest with advisers.”
Mr Okusanya adds: “Make sure there is some kind of back-up in terms of data feed and access and have updates for advisers."
Mr Okusanya points out communication is crucial, but that even the best cannot undo all the damage caused by the disruption.
“Just telling advisers you screwed up is not going to fix the problem," he notes.
“In that case, and Aviva is a good example, you need to be seen to be making progress and making it really, really fast.”
Listen and learn
Mr Coates has some suggestions which he believes could avoid the recent disasters clients have experienced.
“My advice to any prospective platform consolidator is do it in two stages: acquire everything, including the systems and let them run. Make it very clear what penalties will be in terms of job losses and financial penalties for senior management if a merger goes wrong, then think about whether you want to merge,” he explains.
Managing director of Succession-owned Independent Advisers (Scotland), Alistair Creevy, has some legacy business on Cofunds and says his staff have found things challenging since the migration.
His words of advice for the platform companies is to listen more to advisers:
He notes: “I recommend they should talk to advisers more. They think their marketing department they spend millions on should have the answers rather than us.”
Christine Dawson is a freelance journalist
