COMMISSION STILL ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN 25% OF MOST IFA'S INCOME

Latest MyTouchstone data shows commission remains vital for IFA income

London, April 2012 - New analysis from MyTouchstone, the market leading IFA database which is operated by the wealth and investment intelligence services division of Equifax, suggests that commission still plays a huge part in IFA income in the run up to RDR.

“With RDR now less than 9 months away, it is surprising that nearly 90% of the 4,600 IFAs we surveyed are still relying on commission for more than 25% of their income”, said Neil Cunningham, Director & General Manager, MyTouchstone. “The figure for Q4 2011 is very marginally lower than we saw in Q3 last year. But it’s still pretty high at 88.1%.”

Getting ready for the new RDR world, however, is vital and part and parcel to that is achieving the right level for hourly fees. According to the latest MyTouchstone data, the UK average in Q4 2011 was £148.46 per hour, with some very wide regional variations.

Perhaps not surprisingly the South appears to be where the highest fees per hour are currently being charged. The Isle of Man tops the MyTouchstone chart at £225 per hour, closely followed by London WC at £217.86 and London EC at £205.25. At the other end of the scale, probably reflecting local market conditions, the bottom 10 fee chargers are all in the North with Lerwick recording the lowest hourly fee at £75.

“We are wondering if, certainly in respect of commission charging versus fees, it is simply the case that IFAs are making the most of the higher earning opportunities currently available to them”, concluded Neil Cunningham. “It will be interesting to see how the picture changes as we look at our figures through 2012.”

“More than 1000 IFAs log on to the MyTouchstone database every month to upload fresh data, providing a valuable insight into IFA business make-up and creating an information source that will transform the way IFAs promote and run their business.”

Ends

For further press information please contact: Wendy Harrison, Jenny Thorneywork or Clare Watson at HSL on 020 8977 9132 / Fax: 020 8977 5200 or Email: clarew@@harrisonsadler.com

About Equifax

Equifax is a global leader in consumer and commercial information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 17 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.

IXI, Workload and MyTouchstone

Equifax Inc acquired US wealth data specialist, IXI, at the end of 2009. The IXI Corporation has been directly-measuring consumer wealth in the U.S. for the past 15 years.

Now, the unique combination of UK wealth business, Workload, acquired by Equifax UK in 2011 and IXI is set to bring an unparalleled understanding of consumer wealth and purchase behaviour to the UK for the first time.

Workload is the UK’s leading provider of strategic IFA intelligence to financial product providers, delivering powerful benefits to its users. It operates a shared investment product data exchange with information provided by over 90 of the UK’s leading financial services companies. It also operates the MyTouchstone database which is powered by the collective sales data of 77 major product providers, fund managers and platforms and inputs from thousands of IFAs to help IFAs understand how they perform compared to the other IFAs in their post area and across the UK.