Standard Life and Friends Provident join forces to lead the way on Wrap initiative

FTSE 100 life and pensions companies Friends Provident and Standard Life have today announced their intention to collaborate through a legacy data sharing alliance that will enhance their respective Wrap platforms.

The pioneering move will enable the respective companies’ Wrap customers to view Standard Life’s and Friends Provident’s existing investment and pensions business on both Wrap platforms, in addition to their Wrap holdings. For intermediaries, having access to accurate data on demand will cut out the inconvenience and expense of having to re-register assets onto the platforms. It marks a significant development for the industry that until now has seen companies develop their Wrap offerings in isolation.

Real-time valuation requests will be sent and received between the two providers’ back end systems each time a customer or intermediary accesses their investment details through either company’s Wrap platform. The data will be exchanged securely in XML (Extensible Mark-Up Language) format using the Contract Enquiry data standards defined by industry standards body Origo.

Christine Foyster, head of wealth management at Friends Provident, said: “Our alliance is a huge step forward to realising the full potential of a Wrap being a one-stop shop for customers to view their entire investment portfolio. Until now, access to existing policy data has been a real stumbling block that has held back the Wraps industry, but together with Standard Life we’re setting a new standard that overcomes this and puts intermediaries and customers first.”

John Taylor, marketing director for Standard Life Wrap, said: “As two leading e-commerce companies in the industry, we are pleased to be working together to drive forward this ground-breaking initiative, and believe that this is an excellent demonstration of how providers can join forces for the benefit of intermediaries and customers. Having access to real-time legacy data on demand eliminates the manual effort in valuing products that have not been purchased through the Wrap platform. As an alliance we actively encourage other providers to come on board and add the missing pieces of the jigsaw so that customers can have a complete picture of their investments.”