safe simple and secure A private investor s guide to the 7IM Platform

safe simple and secure A private investor s guide to the 7IM Platform

An award winning Platform at your SErvice Is it time to find out how a Platform can help you? In an industry famous for its jargon, we know our clients value us communicating in terms that are clear, simple and concise. Platform: noun n a raised level surface on which people or things can stand n a raised structure alongside a railway track where passengers get on and off trains at a station n the declared policy of a political party or group n a shoe with a very thick sole And n a simple, safe and secure way to keep an eye on a portfolio of investments. Have a read to find out more... n if you are unclear what a Platform is, what it does or how you might benefit from one. n if your financial adviser is transferring your portfolio onto a Platform. n if you want to ensure your portfolio is administered in the most efficient way possible in the future. B 1

An award winning Platform at your service WHAT DOES A PLATFORM PROVIDE? safety, simplicity and security n A Platform or Wrap Platform as it is sometimes called, is simply a software system. It provides private investors with a centralised and realtime view of their investment portfolio, whether in pensions, tax wrappers such as ISAs, different investment fund structures, trusts or bonds. n in some ways it is much like an online banking system, except it s for investments. Or you could look at it as the easiest possible way to get information on your investments. That means you ll no longer have to leaf through the files of paperwork often generated by investing with various providers. n the first Fund Supermarket (a forerunner of the Platform) was introduced into the UK back in 1999 and it was used to carry out simple valuations and transactions for general investments such as ISAs and PEPs. n today, over 248 billion of personal investments are held on Platforms in the UK, testament to their success. n seven Investment Management (7IM) has been at the heart of Platform evolution. We built ours specifically to manage relationships with our own clients. However it soon became clear that our intermediary partners could also benefit from such an approach to help manage their clients affairs. So in 2002, we launched the very first Platform in the UK which could hold and transact each and every type of investment. 2 3

An award winning Platform at your SErvice SO WHAT DOES A PLATFORM ACTUALLY DO? AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO GAIN? n it provides a much wider range of investment types to choose from than would normally be available to individual investors. These include direct equities and fixed interest, funds and investment trusts, alternative assets, exchange traded funds, property investments and cash. n A Platform can enable your adviser to obtain dealing and fund discounts on your behalf. n it holds a record of all your investments, regardless of what tax or pension wrappers they are contained within and links your records to those of a custodian bank. For the 7IM Platform this is Pershing Securities, a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon. n A Platform enables any of those investments to be bought or sold in one place by your adviser. However, holding assets on a Platform does not change your relationship with the underlying investment providers. Your pension contract, bond contract or investment agreement remain in place with the organisations which manage them. n Iit provides a single picture of all of your investments, from pension products to direct equity investments and it is accessible online at any time of day or night, including on our app, 7IMagine, available on most Apple and Android devices. n Maximise investment possibilities: easy access to a huge range of investment possibilities will enable your adviser to manage your investments but maintain your risk preferences. n Access information at a time that suits you: all your investments will be visible on one user-friendly online service. n Spend less time on administration: instead of individual statements for each type of investment, you ll get a six-monthly report with everything in one place. n Make decision-making simpler: with a comprehensive and clearer picture of your financial situation at your fingertips, making conversations with your adviser more useful. n Improve tax efficiency: with tax management and investment services in one place, your portfolio can be run more tax efficiently. n Reassuringly good communication: with constant access, your adviser will be able to use the Platform to monitor your investment portfolio closely and manage it on your behalf. n it also gives your financial adviser access to financial planning tools to help manage your portfolio. 4 5

An award winning Platform at your SErvice SEE HOW MUCH IS ON OFFER from 7im Instead of describing how our Platform works in words, we thought it might be easier and more straightforward to visualise how it links your investments and plan to other parts of the financial world. n Access to a variety of tax and pension wrappers: ISAs, SIPPs, Offshore Bonds, General Investment Accounts, Trusts, Charities and Corporate Accounts I used to have different files of paper statements and share certificates. They gradually became a series of too many usernames and different passwords for online holdings with different product providers. Now I have one password and get a complete picture of my financial situation in one place. n Links to other software that your adviser may use n Banking Services: Loans, Fixed Term Deposits 7IM Platform n Access to a wide variety of different fund structures and products n Access to securities listed on Stock Exchanges in the UK and Internationally: Equities, Bonds, Gilts, UK & International Fixed Interest. n Access to Financial Planning tools that your adviser may use on your portfolio. I was really worried that I would lose control, handing everything over to a faceless system but the reality is that I have never felt more in control it s very reassuring being able to see my entire portfolio at the press of a button, any time of the day or night. 6 7

An award winning Platform at your service SO WHAT MAKES THE 7IM PLATFORM THE RIGHT CHOICE? RECOGNITION Whether your financial adviser is making investment decisions on your behalf or they are creating your financial plan with you, then asking 7IM to make the investment decisions, either way our Platform can be used to administer your portfolio. Transparent charging: All our fees and charges are clear and up front right from the start. Your adviser can agree fees separately with you and 7IM takes no payments from fund providers. Independence: We offer the widest possible choice of investments and tax wrappers to choose from. Simplicity: This is a service that is really easy to use. You receive log on details giving you access to your portfolio whenever you need it and can see the information on the move via 7IMagine. Security: Your assets are safe and so is your data. All client assets are held in custody with Pershing Securities, a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon, one of the largest custodian banks in the world. Unbeatable value: We believe that our charges represent great value. If you hold any 7IM funds on our Platform then we charge an annual fee of 0.25% but reduce the Annual Management Charge in those funds by the same amount. So it s a very cost effective way to invest. If you hold any other funds on the Platform, your financial adviser will have the details for the charges for these. And finally, there are very few platforms that provide the breadth of services we do investments, savings and loans all in one place. We were thrilled to win the 2013 Leading Innovation Award at the Aberdeen UK Platform Awards for our game changing 7IMagine app. Also in 2013, we won Best Outsourced Investment Solutions for Advisers at the Professional Advisers awards. In 2012 the 7IM Platform won Best Investment Management Platform for the second time together with the prestigious Platform of the Year at the Aberdeen UK Platform Awards. We also gained a 5 star service award from FT Adviser.com and the prestigious 5 star rating from Defaqto, a leading UK independent financial research company, which we also retained in 2013. A word about us We built a company that could focus on delivering service to Financial Advisers and their clients. Since then 7IM has grown to look after over 5.9 billion in assets, won several service and technology awards and became fully independent in 2007. We provide a broad and quite unique combination of investment management services. We developed a business focussed on what is right for you, the client. We wanted to be clear and transparent about how we managed money; about what we charged and about what we saw happening in the world and therefore the consequences for the portfolios. That goal has not changed in over ten years, nor will it. Tom Sheridan 7IM Chief Executive 3 WINNER Best Outsourced Investment Solution for Advisers Seven Investment Management 2013 PLATFORM SERVICE In a nutshell what we aim to do is help people to see clearly what they have and get them interested in their own pensions and more involved generally in their investments. Justin Urquhart Stewart Co-Founder and Head of Corporate Development 8 9

telephone: 020 7760 8777 fax: 020 7760 8799 website: www.7im.co.uk seven investment Management llp is authorised and regulated by the financial conduct Authority. Member of the london stock exchange. registered office: 55 Bishopsgate, london ec2n 3AS. registered in england and wales no. oc378740.