Investments  

How have CIPs evolved?

This article is part of
Guide to centralised investment propositions

Personalising your CIP

Ariyawansa adds that personalised branding on a CIP also has a role in increasing trust between an adviser and their clients. 

“Add personal branding through an app, and you’re onto a real winner. Clients can now get the key facts at the click of a button, and communicate with me through an encrypted channel that has an audit trail for compliance. This increases client engagement, empowerment, and trust.

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"Trust is knowing they can access their portfolios daily yet, they don’t need to, because I’m only a click away from getting in touch with compelling data relevant to their circumstances and that is easy to understand, should there be a crisis out there."

Ariyawansa adds that these improvements in the functionality have been driven by technology. 

“For a CIP to function, from inception to review, we need to have accurate data that is then analysed and in tune with our investment philosophy. Along the journey, we need to monitor its functionality from a charging and performance point of view as well as how it aids the business and client base.

"It should also allow compliance to get a quick understanding of where a client is, at a particular time, given their understanding of supplementary data, including their financial goals."

Over the years, some experts have criticised CIPs for not always allowing the investment approach to be highly tailored to a client’s needs.

However, these days CIPs do allow greater customisation, which is a testament to how CIPs have continued to develop over the years. 

In fact, Blackfinch Asset Management recently launched a tailored portfolio service to offer greater flexibility for financial advice firms to build their own brand range. 

The Blackfinch tailored portfolio service builds on the benefits of a managed portfolio service by adding a high degree of customisation.

Financial advice firms are now able to use a number of strategic options to shape the portfolio range, including a preferred risk profile, tailored asset allocation, linking to specific investment objectives and caps to costs.

Blackfinch also provides firm-branded client literature to fully service investors in an engaging manner so that they can demonstrate their value and meet their regulatory requirements.

At the time of the launch last year, Nick French, chief distribution officer, says the Blackfinch tailored portfolio service enables firms to review their CIP, streamline operations for greater efficiency and identify ways to grow their business.