Sesame to hike fees after tech upgrade

Sesame Bankhall Group will increase its standard fixed fees in August by up to £80 per month following the launch of a practice management system for its advisers.

The company currently has 250 advisers testing its XPLAN practice management system and will roll it out across the business as a compulsory part of its service.

The network previously raised its membership fees in August 2012 from £29.20 to £44.20 due to the increased cost of regulation. If the maximum £80 monthly increase was implemented,  Sesame advisers would see their weekly membership fees rise by £18.46 from £44.20 to £62.66, a 42% increase.

George Higginson, (pictured) chief executive of Sesame Bankhall Group said: 'We are being upfront with [advisers] to say that [the introduction of the system] will bring about an increase in standard fixed fees. However, we are giving [advisers] lots of advance notice. We expect the changes to come in over the summer and will not be making any changes to our prices until August of this year.

'[Advisers] will benefit from market-leading adviser technology as part of the core package. It will make it easier for [them] to prove [their] adviser charging and document [their] advice, and we know that is an area that the new regulator will be increasing its focus on going forward.

'Our solution gives [advisers] the ability to offer quality services that justify [their] adviser charging, such as reports, valuations and direct client access. It will enable [them] to operate more efficiently. For example, [they] will no longer have to send us client files, as we will be able to check them automatically.'

The network is also examining the launch of an execution-only service, using its Sesame One platform, a white-labelled version of the AXA Elevate platform, or its general insurance portal.

George Higginson, (pictured) chief executive of Bankhall Group said at the Sesame 2013 Symposium conference: 'We don't want to go direct to consumer, but we want to give [our advisers] the opportunity to go direct to consumer through our platform or general insurance portal and have the ability to trade directly with clients in the way [they] want.'

Last year the Openwork network said it would launch an execution-only platform.