AWARD-winning York-based financial adviser Pearson Jones plc has joined a select group of UK wealth managers able to enter a “wrap arrangement” with financial services giant Standard Life.

Pearson Jones, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners’ (STEP) International IFA team of the year, offers wealth management, mortgages, pensions and employee benefits, tax and trust planning.

The company advises more than 2,000 private clients and 500 businesses with total funds under management of more than £1billion.

Adopting the Standard Life wrap platform allows Pearson Jones advisers at Northminster Business Park to view “real time” information on clients’ entire investment portfolios, to monitor them more closely and, for those above £750,000, to buy into a wider range of investments – not only those from Standard Life – faster and at discounted prices.

Standard Life wraps, which provide access to 2,000 funds, has £4.4 billion funds under administration. Its wealth management software is geared to the needs of high net worth individuals, with an efficient administration process and a facility for Pearson Jones clients to view their entire portfolios from anywhere in the world.

Adopting the wrap platform means that Pearson Jones plc will be operating ahead of a Financial Services Authority (FSA) requirement that independent financial advisers must offer clients a wider range of investments after 2012.

John Metcalf, Pearson Jones York-based wealth management director, said: “We work closely with clients’ professional advisers, such as accountants and solicitors, and the wrap also enables them to access our mutual clients’ information with appropriate authorisation which is beneficial when they are completing clients’ tax returns.”

Mark Polson, Standard Life’s head of customer management, said: “The Standard Life wrap will enable Pearson Jones to offer an even better level of service to clients.”