Meanwhile, Lloyds says Scottish Widows will leverage Embark’s platform and product capability to digitise its Retirement Account product and improve how it works with advisers.
“Advisers will also benefit from smoother sales and onboarding of new clients while being able to manage existing clients’ needs more efficiently,” it adds.
Will Roberts, editorial director at CoreData Research (which highly commended Embark in the overall best platform and best large platform categories in its 2020 UK investment platform study), says the adviser community will have to "wait and see" what impact the deal has for advisers.
He adds: “As advisers conduct more business through platforms, the service element has emerged as a key differentiator.
“So if the deal results in an enhanced platform service offering at a competitive price then it will be a win for advisers.
“It will also be important to provide as smooth a transition as possible for those adviser clients who have only recently moved from Alliance Trust Savings and Zurich.”
Andrew Ashwood, a senior analyst at research consultancy Platforum, predicts that users of the Advance by Embark platform probably will not see any real change under new ownership, with a scheduled migration onto the same back-end system as the Embark Platform.
Given Embark’s acquisition of the Zurich retail investment platform last year, Ashwood adds: “What might concern advisers more is partnering with a platform that has undergone two changes of ownership in as many years.”
Rowanmoor breaks away
Rowanmoor's Sipp and Ssas administration business, the part of Embark that is being retained by existing shareholders, will become a standalone business.
An Embark spokesperson says: “Embark management and a number of shareholders have decided to retain the business, with Paul Downing continuing to lead Rowanmoor as chief executive, supported by chair David Barral and Phil Smith as non-executive director.
“It is business as usual for Rowanmoor clients, only it will be operating as a standalone business, rather than part of a wider group and therefore this will create a number of new roles and opportunities for employees within the business.
“As a leading Ssas administration business and bespoke Sipp and group pension trust provider, supported by deep expertise in actuarial and property management services, it will continue to work closely with its existing SME, financial adviser clients and their customers.”
For John Moret, principal at consultancy MoretoSipps, the news that Lloyds will not be acquiring Rowanmoor does not come as a surprise.
“It is well known that the Sipp business has hundreds of Sipps with impaired investments, including Cape Verde,” Moret says.
Last year the Financial Ombudsman Service said it had received 400 complaints relating to Sipp due diligence involving Cape Verde-based property scheme The Resort Group. The ombudsman said the "vast majority" of these were against Rowanmoor.
