News - Press Release

January 2010

Dunstan Thomas launches RIY Plus, a new version of Reduction in Yield Calculator as demand extends to providers

Dunstan Thomas has launched a new version of its Reduction in Yield (RIY) Calculator, now called Imago RIY Plus, following an upswing in demand for the tool from life assurers. The demand stems from a requirement by pensions providers to monitor RIYs on their products against competitor offerings. In addition, providers are using Dunstan Thomas’ tool to run RIY checks before stimulating customers on their legacy products to migrate to newer and more attractive pensions offerings.

With providers in mind, RIY Plus now offers improved auditing features to increase traceability for compliance checks associated with legacy asset migration activities. Dunstan Thomas has also increased the security on the system by offering scope to increase personalisation of suitability documentation.

The Imago RIY Plus tool was initially designed to support advisers in the process of moving legacy assets into higher performing, more versatile and diverse pensions offerings, and specifically to help them migrate legacy assets onto the most suitable platform. The calculator works by conducting a ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ facts-based calculation of the costs of different but comparable schemes.

Once the calculation has been carried out the tool is able to generate a FSA-compliant Suitability letter for presentation to the client. The tool is already widely used by para planners and advisers when advising on legacy asset migration events and aiming to select platforms.

Chris Read, chairman, Dunstan Thomas, comments:
“It is reassuring that our focus on legacy asset migration services is now appealing beyond the adviser and platform provider world out to the product providers themselves who we originally thought would take longer to embrace legacy asset migration.”
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Notes to editors
Dunstan Thomas is also a founding partner of Legacy Asset Systems (LAS) which was established following recognition that there is a significant opportunity for migration of up to £2 trillion of legacy assets held in underperforming and largely inactive, normally equity-based funds into wrap platforms and other contemporary investment solutions. LAS can show that the payback period for advisers using their end-to-end legacy asset migration service will be as little as three months and no more than 12 months.

Transfers have become very big business as advisers seek to modernise their business practices and take advantage of the latest products. Ever since the first wrap launched a decade ago it has been clear that the key to transforming the adviser business model is to engage with a systematic and compliant process for transferring existing clients with a collection of legacy products. This involves a variety of skills and services including processes which scan thousands of old client records to find potentially suitable cases, an accurate ‘before and after’ cost comparison and skillful explanation in client specific suitability reports. Depending on the circumstances, up to 50% of clients can be suitable for transfer.

The importance of remaining compliant during asset migration activity was highlighted in the FSA’s Thematic Review of Pension Switching Advice, published in December 2008. This study found that:
• 16% of all pension transfers reviewed offered unsuitable advice
• 25% of firms failed with more than a third of all their cases
• 79% of cases failed because there was an unjustified extra cost, and in:
• 26% of cases the adviser failed to ascertain if the new product was more expensive.

About Dunstan Thomas:
Dunstan Thomas is a pensions administration software and services provider offering a fully integrated range of components under the Imago brand. These components together provide the key back and front office administration tools needed by pension providers, third party administrators and financial advisers. Imago’s Front Office administration components include Illustrations, Reviews and stochastic models in Adviser Tools. Imago’s Back Office tools include Administration and Property.

Dunstan Thomas’ Imago is now establishing itself as a highly functional platform for servicing not only pensions products but also supporting Wrap platforms to help them generate increased efficiencies and automate calculations, illustrations and provide all relevant reporting capabilities.

Dunstan Thomas has been providing these solutions to leading names in the pensions and investments market for 20 years. It works with other leading names in the industry such as HSBC, Ascentric, Novia, Friends Provident, Hargreaves Lansdown, Xafinity and Capita.

For further information about Dunstan Thomas please contact:
Christopher Read, Chairman
Dunstan Thomas
Tel: 0239 282 2254
Email: cread@dthomas.co.uk

For media enquiries please contact:
Miles Clayton
Agility PR
Tel: 01992 587439
Email: miles@agilitypr.co.uk