Platform valuation reports: how to read them and find the key figures

Every platform lays out its statements differently. One puts the total value on the front page and the transactions on page fourteen. Another splits charges into a separate costs and charges statement. A third reports performance using a method that does not match the one your firm uses. The figures you need for an annual review are almost always in there, but they are scattered, labelled inconsistently and easy to misread.

This guide explains what platform valuation reports usually contain, which figures matter for a review, the traps that commonly produce a wrong number, and how to record where each figure came from. Layouts vary by platform and change over time, so treat it as a general method rather than a map of any one provider's statement.

What platform valuation reports usually contain

Most statements cover the same ground, even if the order and labels differ.

The figures that matter for a review

For most annual reviews, the job is to pull out a short list of numbers and be certain each one is right.

• Opening value and date. The value at the start of the period, matching the end of the last review.
• Closing value and date. The value at the end of the period.
• Money paid in. Regular contributions, lump sums, employer contributions, tax relief added to pensions, and transfers in from other providers.
• Money taken out. Income, lump sums, regular withdrawals and transfers out.
• Charges in pounds. Each layer: adviser, platform and fund.
• Cash held. Including any cash building up because income or contributions were not invested.
• The current mix. How the portfolio is split, to compare with the agreed risk level.

From these you can work out the investment return: the closing value, less the opening value, less money paid in, plus money taken out. Those components are what make a review honest. We show how to present them in explaining charges to clients.

Common traps in platform valuation reports

Errors in review figures tend to come from a small number of causes. Check for each one before you write anything.

Mismatched periods

A statement covering a calendar year will not line up with a review period running from one meeting date to the next. If you use two statements with different end dates, the figures will not reconcile. Note the exact dates of every report you rely on.

Moves that are not new money

Switching between funds, or moving money from a general account into an ISA on the same platform, can appear in the transaction list beside contributions. At the level of the whole portfolio, these are not money paid in. At the level of a single wrapper, they are. Decide which level you are reporting and be consistent.

Pension tax relief

Relief added to a personal pension contribution may be credited separately and later than the contribution itself, so it can fall into a different period. Count it as money paid in, and check it is not missing or counted twice.

How charges are shown

Some statements show adviser charges as a withdrawal from the account, others as a charge. If they are treated as withdrawals, the investment return will look higher than it was after all costs. Decide how your firm treats each charge, say so in the review, and apply it the same way every year.

The platform's own performance figure

A platform may calculate its return figure in a way that measures the investments independently of when money was added or taken out, or in a way that reflects the timing of the client's own payments. The two can give quite different answers in a year with large contributions or withdrawals. If you quote the platform's figure, say what it measures. If you calculate your own, do not present it beside the platform's without explaining the difference.

Several clients in one pack

When statements for a couple, a family or a trust arrive together, it is easy to pick up a figure from the wrong person's report. Check the name and account number on every page you use.

Pages you could not read

A scanned statement, a password-protected file or a missing page can leave a gap. If you could not read part of a report, record that, and do not let a total quietly rest on half the evidence.

Record where every figure came from

A review figure is only as defensible as its source. For each number in the review, note the document, its date and the page it came from. This takes seconds while you work and saves a great deal of time if the figure is questioned later by the client, a colleague or a file reviewer.

It also supports the firm's wider record-keeping. SYSC 9.1.1R requires a firm to "arrange for orderly records to be kept of its business and internal organisation… sufficient to enable the FCA to monitor the firm's compliance" (SYSC 9.1). Keeping the source statements on the client file, with figures traceable to them, is part of that.

A step-by-step method

1. Gather every statement for the period, for every wrapper and provider, and check each belongs to the right client.
2. Write down the exact start and end date of each statement, and confirm they line up with the review period.
3. Take the opening and closing values, with page references.
4. Go through the transactions and sort each one: money in, money out, charge, or internal move.
5. Add up the charges by layer, in pounds, and note where each came from.
6. Calculate the investment return and check that the components reconcile to the change in value.
7. Note anything you could not read or reconcile, and resolve it before the review is written.

If the components do not reconcile, stop. There is usually a missing transaction, a mismatched date or a figure from the wrong account.

Doing this for every review

This is careful, repetitive work, and it is where much of the time in an annual review goes. By our estimate, writing one review by hand takes about three hours.

Strata reads the platform valuation PDFs the firm already produces and does this extraction for you. Every figure is traced back to the report and page it came from, so checking is quick. It separates investment return from money paid in, tracks how charges moved year on year, compares two or more periods across the whole span, guards against mixing up clients when several report packs are staged together, and reports any file it could not read rather than leaving it out. By our estimate, the review then takes about twenty minutes, and the adviser checks the figures against their sources before it goes out. We describe the rest of the process in how Strata writes the annual review.

Frequently asked questions

What is in a platform valuation report?

Usually a summary value at a date, holdings by wrapper, cash, a list of transactions, charges and a performance figure. Layouts and labels vary by platform, and charges are sometimes in a separate statement.

Why does the platform's return figure differ from my calculation?

Often because of method. Some figures measure the investments independently of when money moved, others reflect the timing of the client's payments. Check which the platform uses and say which you are showing.

Should switches between funds count as contributions?

No. A switch moves money that is already invested. A move between wrappers on the same platform is not new money for the portfolio as a whole, although it is for the wrapper it moves into.

See how Strata reads valuation reports and traces every figure to its page, or book a twenty-minute demo on Microsoft Teams with Adam Booth, run live on a demo firm with nothing to prepare.