Barclays to close Woolwich Plan Managers

Barclays is to close structured product provider Woolwich Plan Managers and offer all structured investments in an unbundled format through third party platforms and stockbrokers, as part of an overhaul of its distribution strategy .

All existing structured investments for advisers will be administered until maturity, but new investments will not be accepted as of 31 December.

Barclays already offers structured products on Nucleus, Transact and 7IM, as well as several stockbrokers and Sipp providers.

The move is part of Barclays plans to move all its structured products business to its investment bank.

A Barclays spokesman said that come 1 January, all structured investments for UK intermediaries will be made exclusively available via third party platforms.

'As a business we are always looking at how we can most effectively serve our intermediary clients. We feel that the best way to do this is via third party platforms, allowing advisers to manage client portfolios centrally and take advantage of improved liquidity,’ he said. ‘We remain committed to the UK intermediary market and will continue to administer through our own platforms all existing investments.'