Fund Platform

A Fund Platform (also know as a Fund Wrap or Fund Supermarket) are terms for a type of UK investment vehicle, the basic feature of which is that one has an account with one organisation/provider, within which funds from any of usually several dozen fund managers can be held. Inside one's account, one can usually hold several different types of 'tax wrapper' i.e. several different financial products, perhaps including:

* securities individual savings accounts (ISAs)
* Personal Equity Plan (PEPs)
* direct mutual fund (i.e. Unit Trust or OEIC) or investment trust holdings
* offshore or onshore investment bonds (also called insurance bonds)
* personal pension plan, either insured personal pensions or Self-invested personal pension (SIPPs).

There are no hard and fast rules for the respective definitions of the three and the name given to each seems to depend upon how the provider wants to market their proposition. In fact, some fund wrap providers would not even like to describe their fund wrap as a vehicle or product, but as a 'service' for holding funds.

Another feature common for almost all fund wraps is the provision of a web address and login details for each investor, enabling them to access their account details online.

Many investors choose to take independent financial advice, in the selection of a fund platform provider, in the selection of funds and 'tax wrappers' and in the ongoing monitoring of performance.