Its 0.45 per cent charge puts it 10 percentage points behind the next most expensive platform, James Hay, which charges 0.35 per cent.
Mill, however, is quick to stress that advisers and their clients should zoom out and look at the bigger pricing picture.
“One of the things you can’t do is compare pricing in isolation,” says the platform’s CEO. “Novia is a full-service proposition, end-to-end. Other platforms might do elements of what we do, which is why it’s ultimately about value.”
Mill says total cost of administration is a much better indicator of just how expensive a platform is.
“In any industry, there’s always price pressure. But we can’t always compare one platform with another because of the difference in propositions.”
ATS ‘re-emphasised’ need for focus on advice
Between 2010 and 2017, Mill led ATS. He can surmise one lesson from the experience, and that was that the platform’s direct-to-consumer platform hammered home the importance of advice.
“ATS had a direct-to-consumer proposition as well as an adviser proposition. That just re-emphasised my belief that advice is right for the majority of clients.
In terms of a business, it is good to be focused on one area. We're [at Novia] very focused on advisers. It’s a very different business than D2C.
“Every day I wake up, and my executives wake up, trying to make Novia the very best intermediated business for IFAs. I think that focus is hugely powerful.”
A handful of advised platform providers, including the likes of AJ Bell, Aviva, and M&G, all operate D2C platforms as well as advised services.
“The number of advisers needs to increase,” says Mill. “As well as the number of advisers giving advice at lower amounts. Advisers can and will be able to advise people with lower assets.
“Platforms are part of that, but not the total solution.”
Ruby Hinchliffe is a senior reporter at FTAdviser
