February 2020 communications

Here are copies of our latest communications to partner firms.

This covers the following:

Latest releases- i.e. what new functionality is available in the portal

Updates on procedures

Changes to processes

New products and associated procedures

6th February release summary:

New Features:

 ·       Adviser portal to display status of deceased – we are adding the ability to search for and view deceased clients in the Adviser portal.  The Investor Overview page will also display a label next to the investor's name to show they are deceased.

Improved Features:

 ·       Gross/Net regular contribution pension indicator – for pension contributions, we are updating the regular contribution field so that, similar to the lump sum contribution field, it advises the user whether to use the gross or net value depending on the payer type that is selected

    Growth rate for pension illustrations - We have updated the growth rates for pension illustrations to use the new values, 0.0%, 2.9% and 5.9%, as per a new COBS ruling, COBS 13 Annex 2 Projections, 2.3R 

24th February release summary:

Ad hoc Fees

Via the Add Charges option in the All Account Actions cog it is possible to assign an annual adviser charge and a portfolio management charge.  We have added functionality to add adviser ad hoc fees, under the dropdown option "One off charge".

Improved Features:

MPAA

Whilst completing a pension application on the portal, if the question regarding MPAA is set to 'YES' then an illustration will not be generated.  We have therefore updated the application process to make it clearer to the user that by answering “Yes” to the MPAA question, no illustration will be produced.

Benefit Crystallisation Option

We have removed the option to select 'benefit crystallisation' via the portal as it is currently not supported by the API to Hartley Pensions. This is scheduled for development and we will confirm when this is made available. In the meantime, for any queries on this and drawdown illustration, please contact Hartley directly.

Add/Amend Contributions Screen

In order to obtain an illustration of an additional contribution, the user currently needs to have ticked the declaration.  Following feedback from partner firms, the steps for the Add/Amend Contributions page have now been reordered, so that an illustration can be generated prior to the declaration being ticked and before proceeding to the commit application screen.

Contract Notes

At present, contract notes are not produced for adhoc or initial investments when the end client has invested within a DFM model.  Following feedback from our partner firms, it is accepted that end clients may not understand the distinction between investing in an advisory model (where contract notes are produced) and a DFM model (where no contract notes are produced). For this reason, we will now produce contract notes for all initial and adhoc investments, irrespective of whether advisory or discretionary.

If a switch or re-balance arises under an advisory agreement, the contract notes will continue to be produced however, contract notes will not be provided for discretionary models.

*Note contract notes are not produced for: regular investments; income re-investments; raises to cover fees.