A 10-minute watch.

Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, sat down with Gary Shepherd to talk about differentiation in the execution-only platform market, and why buylists are a great tool – only if done right. 

Willis Owen outsources much of its fundamental funds research to Morningstar, with Adrian stressing the importance of independent analysis and building robust buylists.

“If you are an investor looking for ideas and there’s 2,000 funds to choose then from that’s too much choice and too overwhelming,” he says.

“A buylist helps reduce that choice. The challenge is to make sure that the buylist is always there to service the investor and not the business outright. It’s about having the right funds on the list and not having any risks of conflicts of interest.”

Adrian also explains the rationale behind Willis Owen’s starter portfolios and promoting the fundamentals of buying funds. He highlights the risk that first-time investors can make bad choices that can put them off investing again for life.

For more from Adrian, check-out his 3 Questions here.