We have completed the latest upgrade to ATEB Suitability on 26th October 2023. This update comes at no additional cost and provides various template-related enhancements as well as new additions to our content integration and content management libraries.
Full details of the enhancements can be found in the tables below, but some of the highlights are:
New Content Integration with Morningstar
We have partnered with Morningstar to provide our customer firms with access to the following:
- A description of their service
- A description for each of their portfolios:
- Active Portfolios
- Passive Portfolios
- Income Portfolios
- Governed Portfolios
- International Portfolios
- ESG Portfolios
- Risk profile definitions and descriptions
- Custom Appendix
This functionality can be enabled by a Company Administrator via the Content Integrations screen.
Morningstar Investment Management Europe Ltd (MIME) was formed in 2013 and is part of the Morningstar Investment Management group (MIM), which offers investment management and advisory services around the world, providing research-driven, innovative, and independent investment solutions to the local market.
New Content Integration with Transact-BlackRock MPS
In addition to Morningstar, we have partnered with Transact-Blackrock MPS to provide access to a description of their service as well as a description for each of their seven portfolios:
- Growth 25
- Growth 40
- Growth 50
- Growth 60
- Growth 70
- Growth 80
- Growth 95
This functionality can be enabled by a Company Administrator via the Content Integrations screen.
The Transact – BlackRock MPS range is managed by BlackRock’s Multi-Asset Strategies & Solutions team (MASS) and is made available to retail clients through FCA-authorised financial advisers via the Transact platform. The Transact-BlackRock MPS range benefits from the breadth and depth of BlackRock’s investment, risk and technology capabilities. MASS actively manages the asset allocation for each of the portfolios in Transact – BlackRock MPS range to meet the target for each respective portfolio.
EBI (Evidence Based Investing)
We have updated our EBI content integration with two new suites of portfolios:
- EBI Vantage Core
- EBI Vantage World
CleverMPS
In addition, we have made the following updates to our CleverMPS content integration:
- Provider description updated
- Custom appendix updated
- New ‘Clever Marlborough Sustainable’ portfolio range added
Content Management Additions
We have added ‘Wealthtime Select’ as a new platform to the ‘Providers/Platforms’ feature of Content Management and updated our suite of Liontrust portfolios within the ‘Investments’ feature of Content Management.
New ‘Fund Transaction’ Functionality
It is now possible to capture the ‘Transactional Cost’ of a fund/portfolio within the ‘Investment Strategy Recommendation’ tables of the ‘Suitability Report’ template and the ‘Fund Switch Recommendation’ tables of the ‘Suitability Review’ template. This new ‘Transactional Cost’ column comes with built-in weighted average calculation logic.
In addition we have added a charge type of ‘Fund Transaction’ to all of charge’s tables throughout both the ‘Report’ and ‘Review’ templates.
‘Preferred Approach’ Functionality expanded for ‘Fund Switch’ Recommendations
We have added ‘Preferred Approach’ functionality to both the ‘Existing Fund/Portfolio’ table and ‘New Fund/Portfolio’ table, meaning users can now fund switch between different preferred approaches, for example, recommending a switch out of an ‘Investment from Content Management’ and into an ‘In-house Model Portfolio’.
This functionality has been applied to both the ‘Investment Strategy Recommendation’ table of the ‘Suitability Report’ template and the ‘Fund Switch Recommendation’ table of the ‘Suitability Review’ template.
Upgraded ‘Revised Fund Holdings’ table
The revised fund holdings table of the ‘Suitability Report’ template is now available in all advice scenarios. In addition, the table has been upgraded to provide full ‘Preferred Approach’ functionality.
Suitability Report Template
| Change at a glance | Location | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| New ‘Situation on Death’ wording. | Getting Started page → Retirement Advice → Retirement Plans page → ‘Is this a New or Existing Plan?’ = ‘New’ → Situation on Death tab | With regard to the payment of lump sum death benefits on death before age 75, we have revised our current wording to make clear that the payment is generally tax-free, however, any lump sum paid from uncrystallised funds in excess of the LTA will be taxable at the beneficiary’s marginal rate of income tax. |
| Revised ‘Glossary’ logic. | Getting Started page → Select an appropriate ‘Advice Area’ → Appendices page → Select ‘Glossary of Terms’ | The glossary logic which determines the glossary items that will be pre-ticked dependent upon options selected within the main body of the report has been reviewed and revised. |
| New ‘Charge Type’ definitions added to the investment & retirement plan charges tables. | Getting Started page → Select Retirement Advice/Investment Advice → Investment Plan Charges page/Retirement Plan Charges page | We have replaced the ‘Fund’ charge definition with the following three definitions – ‘Fund (OCF)’ / ‘Fund (AMC)’ / ‘Fund (TER)’. We have also added a new charge type definition of ‘Fund Transaction’. |
| Fund Transaction column added to the ‘Investment Strategy Recommendation’ tables. | Getting Started page → Select Retirement Advice/Investment Advice → Investment Strategy Recommendation page → ‘Include Transactional Cost?’ = ‘Yes’ | We have added a new ‘Transactional Cost’ column to our ‘Investment Strategy Recommendation’ tables. This new column will automatically calculate the weighted average charge of the fund transaction cost when adding multiple funds/portfolios to the table. |
| ‘Preferred Approach’ functionality expanded for fund switch recommendations. | Getting Started page → Select Retirement Advice/Investment Advice → Investment Strategy Recommendation page → ‘Are you undertaking a Fund/Portfolio Switch?’ = ‘Yes’ | When recommending a fund switch, users can now switch between different ‘Preferred Approaches’, for example, switching out of an ‘Investment from Content Management’ and into an ‘In-house Model Portfolio’. |
| Upgraded ‘Revised Fund Holdings’ table. | Getting Started page → Select Retirement Advice/Investment Advice → Investment Strategy Recommendation page → ‘Are you undertaking a Fund/Portfolio Switch?’ = ‘Yes’ → ‘Include revised Fund Holdings table?’ = ‘Yes’ | Following a fund switch recommendation, it is now possible to outline the fully revised fund/portfolios holdings held by the client regardless of the ‘Preferred Approach’ used. The ‘Preferred Approach’ functionality has also been expanded to allow the selection of ‘Investments’ or ‘In-house Model Portfolios’ from ‘Content Management’. |
Suitability Review Template
| Change at a glance | Location | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Onshore Bond’ added as new product type. | Review Details page → ‘Existing Plans’ table → Plan Type column | We have added a new product type of ‘Onshore Bond’ to the ‘Plan Type’ column of the ‘Existing Plans’ table. |
| Fund Transaction column added to the ‘Fund Switch Recommendation’ tables. | Eligibility Criteria page → Select ‘Periodic Suitability Review’ or ‘Ad-hoc Business’ → Review Details page → ‘Fund Review?’ = ‘Fund Switch’ → Fund Switch Recommendation page → ‘Include Transactional Cost?’ = ‘Yes’ | We have added a new ‘Transactional Cost’ column to our ‘Fund Switch Recommendation’ tables. This new column will automatically calculate the weighted average charge of the fund transaction cost when adding multiple funds/portfolios to the table. |
| ‘Preferred Approach’ functionality expanded for fund switch recommendations. | Eligibility Criteria page → Select ‘Periodic Suitability Review’ or ‘Ad-hoc Business’ → Review Details page → ‘Fund Review?’ = ‘Fund Switch’ → Fund Switch Recommendation page → ‘Are you undertaking a Fund/Portfolio Switch?’ = ‘Yes’ | When recommending a fund switch, users can now switch between different ‘Preferred Approaches’, for example, switching out of an ‘Investment from Content Management’ and into an ‘In-house Model Portfolio’. |
Please don’t forget we have a collection of ‘how to’ guides, articles and hints/tips via our FAQs which are available on our Help & Support Portal.
Our support team are available 9am – 5pm / Mon – Fri to answer any further questions you may have support@atebsuitability.co.uk / 0191 338 8177.
Tax Year End Update
Doug McFarlane Suitability 2024, Pension, transfer, Update
Our report writing software has been fully updated on 6th April 2024 to accommodate changes to allowances, rates and reliefs for the 2024/25 tax year. Full details can be found below: Pensions Existing ‘Lifetime Allowance’ wording removed and replaced with new ‘Lump Sum Allowance (LSA)’ and ‘Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA)’ wording. In […]