What's new

From 18th November 2024

From the 18th November 2024 our Fidelity Adviser Solutions Client Terms and Doing Business with Fidelity Adviser Solutions documents are changing.

The Fidelity Adviser Solutions Client Terms changes are summarised as follows:

There are also various minor typographic and wording changes included in the document.

The new terms can be found here: Fidelity Adviser Solutions Client Terms (November 2024)

The new Doing Business with Fidelity Adviser Solutions document changes are summarised as follows:

There are also various minor typographic and wording changes included in the document.

The new document can be found here: Doing Business with Fidelity Adviser Solutions (November 2024)

From 19th October 2024 we will be changing the way we process switch and sell deals to ensure we receive the proceeds of the sell before we are required to settle the buy sides of the switch or rebalance transaction.  As a result, our switch and rebalance instructions are processed as follows:

All switch and rebalance instructions require all sell deals to price before the buy deals can be placed.  Buy deals will be timed to settle after the last sell deal has settled to allow the proceeds of the sell to be received so that we can settle buy deals.  Additionally, trading and settlement of investments may be delayed due to a public holiday in the UK or in the country in which the investment is based or trades, which can lead to longer periods of time required to complete switches and rebalances.

Please note any funds which price the day after the dealing cut-off will extend the processing time for these types of transactions.

• The second and final migration of company and trust accounts will happen from January 2025
• Once migrated accounts can be managed online and with our new web based application forms which can be submitted using your ‘Upload and Send’ Service
• Please click here for more information on the migration

From 5 August 2024 we will be changing the Adviser Specified Fee web journey. The way you can instruct us to take a specified fee and the way we process the instruction will remain the same, but there is a new web journey allowing you to instruct these fees online.

You will still be able to instruct us to take the fees from your clients’ accounts as you can today. Once instructed we will take the fees from Cash first in the account you select. If insufficient cash is available we will then sell down investments to meet the shortfall.

Please watch the video below for an overview of how to use the new journey:

We’re committed to helping provide flexible retirement planning options for you and your clients, underpinning a more certain journey to and through retirement. We are therefore delighted to announce an enhancement to our retirement proposition with the launch of a new smoothed fund, which is now available for investment on our platform through the Fidelity Pension. 

Standard Life Smoothed Return Pension Fund

To notify us of a death of one of your customers, you are now able to do this online. When you have the deceased client in context, select the personal details drop down and a new ‘Notify us of a death’ button will be visible.  
 
This will open a new function where your details as the notifier and the details of the deceased customer will automatically be captured. At this stage, the date of death will need to be entered and there is the option of sending a death certificate, or any other relevant documents if you have them. If you do not have the death certificate yet or receive further documents that need to be sent to us, your ‘Upload and Send’ service can be used. 

Bereavement and planning ahead

We are delighted to introduce you to our new ‘Adviser Solutions Platform Clinic’ where Jon Hale provides practical tips on making the most of some of the features and functionality of our platform when administering client accounts.

Articles currently include:

• Practical tips for pension planning
• Practical capital gains management
• Tax planning using Bed & ISA
• Tax-efficient fee funding
• Using the ISA allowance in uncertain times 

The Platform Clinic

• The first migration of Company and Trust Accounts took place in February 2024.
• Once migrated, the accounts can be managed with our new web-based application forms which can be submitted using your ‘Upload and Send’ service.
• A new page was created to explain what happens when we move accounts to the new system. 

• A Cash hub was created to help you retain assets on the platform and manage cash strategies for your clients.
• Many benefits for you and your clients by implementing cash strategies on the platform include: retention of Adviser ongoing fee, greater liquidity, FSCS protection and much more. 

• We no longer accept 3rd party or spouse bed and ISA requests without a deed of gift form. This is due to regulations in place from HMRC which do not allow such a transaction to be placed.
• The following form can be submitted via your ‘Upload and Send’ service: Deed of gift form.

• With our continued commitment to digitalising our journeys and reducing the need for paper forms, we now have an online Expression of Wish form.  
• The form can be completed by yourself or your client, without the need to forward us any paperwork.  
• To complete the Expression of Wish form online, simply log in and search for your client.  Once your client is in context, click on the ‘Allowances, protections and beneficiaries' link.
• This new online form can be sent to us via you 'Upload and Send' service.

• We have enhanced the offshore consolidated capital gains report, which is enabled for all FAS firms.  
• Capital gains reporting service | Fidelity Adviser Solutions
• Reporting services and back-office integration (fidelity.co.uk)

• Our individual client income reporting has been enhanced, to not just show income that has been paid out to a client’s bank account, but now also includes: 
• income paid out to the client’s bank account or is due to be paid out 
• income paid to the Product Cash Account or Cash Management Account  
• income that has been reinvested 
• details of any interest paid on cash held within the client’s account
• Click here to find out how to generate the report.

• New ‘data to support your business needs’ page helping you to service your clients better.
• For more information, please click here.

• We have launched fully automated one-off crystallisation instructions, one off taxable income instructions and combined one off crystallisation and regular taxable income instructions.   
• Regular crystallisation and regular income plan information is now available in the client report 
• The new journeys introduce the ability to define the amount of cash to be crystallised and speed up the whole process to enable payments to be made within 1-5 working days depending on whether clients are in cash or assets. 
• For more information, please click here.

• You are now able to track a pension savings account re-registration instructed via the ‘Transfer to Immediate Drawdown’ eForm, trackable via Instruction Tracking
• For more information, please click here.

• We now show this return within our systems for product cash and cash management accounts, and this includes values in the following screens: 
• Holdings summary and performance screens where we show a cash value in the ‘Total return’ columns 
• Client Report where we similarly show a cash return value in the Fund Performance - Total Return column 
• Client Summary (total return for cash management account) 
• For more information, please click here.

• You can now receive bulk holdings and transaction history reports straight to their back office via Origo

• We have launched a sustainable investment finder tool to help you identify potential sustainable solutions for your clients. 
• Our tool is designed to make the process of selecting sustainable funds easier. 
• It allows you to browse funds by category or search for a specific fund, to identify potential fund solutions, whatever a client’s sustainable outlook may be. 

More on sustainable investing

• We’ve made improvements to your Instruction Tracking and it is now possible to track pension cases online that you’re moving to Fidelity. 
• You can now track pension re-registration/transfer cases at every stage of the process via the client summary screens.
• You can turn on email alerts that will notify you of a change in the application’s status, allowing you to keep your clients updated.
• Creates efficiencies for your business as consolidated online reporting for ISA, Pension and Investment Accounts is available.

*Please note this is only for cases submitted after 15 January 2023 and any e-form instructions for transfer to Immediate Drawdown and Drawdown-to-Drawdown transfers can still not be tracked.

More on instruction and transfer tracking

• You can now edit an adviser ongoing fee, and DFM fee if relevant, in journey which has been set up on an existing Pension Saving Account (PSA) or Pension Drawdown Account (PDA). 
• You also now have the ability to take a percentage based initial fee on a Junior ISA cash transfer within the transactional journey - supporting you in facilitating fees for these advice-based transactions.

More on fees and charges

• We have improved the way in which a standalone regular income can be set up on pension drawdown accounts (flexi-access and capped). The new online service includes: 
  • Enhanced disinvestment options for taking income:
  • Illustrations and supporting documents are provided as part of the journey
  • Online instruction tracking
  • The ability to take up to the maximum GAD for capped drawdown accounts. If an income of more than this is required, confirmation can be provided online for the account to be converted to a flexi-access drawdown account.
• Straight through processing ensures smooth and accurate completion of transactions
• The system will provide the date of the first expected income payment so you can manage client expectations
• The new journey provides greater visibility of client information such as the tax code held on the system and verified bank account(s) enabling a quicker and smoother processing time.

More on Pension withdrawals

• Introduced the ability to set up automated regular crystallisations.
• This enhances our existing drawdown functionality, which also enables your client to take one-off crystallisations and PCLS (tax-free cash) along with regular and one-off taxable income.
• We offer a choice of crystallisation frequencies: monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly and two payment dates; either the 10th or 25th of the month.
• More on our phased drawdown service

• Bank accounts can be added into our online system at any time ready to be used for setting up a regular savings plan or withdrawal.
• Once a bank account has been added, it will be verified through our automated, online verification system.

• We are now paying interest on money held within Product Cash and the Cash Management Account.
• There is also no platform service fee being deducted on cash account holdings.
• This results in a positive net effect of reducing the overall service fee paid by your clients.

View our latest rates
 

Fidelity Conquest | Financial Planning Software

• No longer need to complete the Employer Regular Savings Plan form
• To submit a new employer regular savings plan for an existing client online:
  • Enter the employer's details on the pre-submission screen
  • Download the combined Employer Record of Payment and Direct Debit Slip (DDS) on the post-submission screen
  • Once the Employer has signed the DDS, post the form to Fidelity

• Junior ISA transfers can now be done online (Child Trust Funds excluded).
• Watch our ‘how to’ videos here to learn more about the online journey

• No requirement for client signature on UFPLS form.
• Adviser can sign the form on client’s behalf.
• Form can be sent to us via our ‘Upload & Send’ feature.

• Ability to sell all from the Investment Account in one interaction
• No longer have to sell to cash first and then buy back into the ISA.

• New support page available within Help & Support bringing information together in one place for Junior SIPP and Junior ISA
• More on Investing for children