Nothing is more important to us than the security of your investments. Although investing does come with some risk, we have processes in place to protect your money, backed by strong regulatory controls and oversight.

The Openwork Partnership launched in 2005 but we’ve been present in the UK for nearly 50 years. Our partnership comprises more than 4,200 financial advisers based in nearly 700 firms across the country, who are supported by 600 people in our central teams. We offer a wide range of financial products and services, including investment solutions managed exclusively for us by our own dedicated fund management business, Omnis Investments

Investing for you

We have a responsibility to make sure we are always investing your money in a way that is suitable for your personal situation and needs. In the first instance, your financial adviser will define a range of factors, including your financial objectives, time horizon and attitude to risk, as well as how much you want to invest. They will then recommend an investment approach that’s most appropriate for your needs.

Our extensive team of experts continuously checks the quality of advice provided by our financial advisers. In addition, we have invested in the technology that allows us to measure and monitor performance accurately so that we can provide up-to-date information about your portfolio.

Your money is always kept separate from our own assets. We’ll never use it for our own business activities and it is ring-fenced so would not be at risk in the unlikely event that we became insolvent.

How we are regulated

The Openwork Partnership and Omnis Investments are authorised and regulated by the UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA oversees the country’s financial services industry and has strict guidelines that firms must meet.

Following initial authorisation, the body continues to supervise companies to ensure they continue to meet its rules. If they fall short, the FCA can take action through enforcement measures. You can check our status on the Financial Services Register at www.fca.org.uk 

Although the regulatory framework that surrounds Openwork, its service providers and its products is designed to protect customers, like all other UK regulated firms, we also contribute to and are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The FSCS is an independent body set up by the government and funded by the financial services industry. As the ‘fund of last resort’ for customers of authorised financial services firms, it can pay you compensation if a firm fails and cannot meet any valid claims against it.

Investment platforms

Your financial adviser will often use an investment platform to hold your investment portfolio all in one place. These platforms have a series of controls to protect your money.

First, your investments are always held in a segregated custodian account that is separate from the platform’s own assets. So, in the unlikely event that the platform becomes bankrupt, you will still be able to get the value of your investments returned when you ask for it (subject to any time it may take to sell them).

The platforms also have processes in place to identify mistakes. For instance, if they cannot match any money held in their bank accounts with a client, they will return it to the original bank. As well as ongoing financial audits and thorough reviews, compliance departments within the platforms monitor all activity

Omnis Investments

With more than £10 billion under management (as at June 2022), Omnis is one of the UK’s largest asset managers. The Omnis approach is to appoint specialist asset managers to run our funds, which we select through a rigorous process and then monitor continuously.

All fund managers must provide extensive financial reports to regulators so they can be assured they hold enough assets to meet their liabilities. They must also appoint a custodian – as the investments platforms have to do – which is responsible for securing and managing the assets held within each fund. As a result, your money is segregated from the fund manager’s assets, which offers protection in the unlikely event that they become insolvent.

Find out more

If you have any questions about the safety of your investments then please speak to your financial adviser who will be able to reassure you.