UK wealth manager Ashcourt Rowan’s managed portfolio service is now available through Ascentric, the funds supermarket.

At the end of last month, Ascentric added Hawksmoor Investment Management and it is now close to reaching its expectation of taking its number of discretionary fund managers to 30 by the end of the year.

Ashcourt Rowan described the step as a part of the preparation for the UK regulator’ Retail Distribution Review, which will come into force at the start of 2013.

Scores of firms are rushing to launch IFA investment management offerings in the run-up to the implementation of the RDR. It is anticipated that a large chunk of UK advisors will outsource the investment management component of their work in order to satisfy new regulatory requirements and also to enable them to spend more time with clients.

However, four out of five of financial advisors polled at a Schroders conference last month said they think there will be fewer IFA-centric platforms in the UK in five years than the current 20.

IFA platform charges are also expected to drop in the post-RDR landscape. Four out of five at the Schroders conference said they believe that fees will be lower or significantly lower by 2016.