Shannon Bernasconi
WealthO2 has launched a managed discretionary account (MDA) best of breed service bringing together the who’s who in managed accounts.
The service makes it even easier for advisers to access the expertise of Australia’s top managed account investment managers including BlackRock, Evergreen, Lonsec, Morningstar, Ralton AM and Zenith, said WealthO2 managing director, Shannon Bernasconi.
WealthO2 is the provider of the MDA removing the requirement for advisers to have MDA authority on their AFSL licence.
“It’s akin to a service equivalent SMA where the adviser is recommending the MDA service and the professional manager to their client, compared to the often higher cost equivalent SMA product,” Ms Bernasconi said.
“In addition the investment clients retain legal ownership of the ASX assets and get access to all corporate events.
“The MDA best of breed service is a logical extension to WealthO2’s existing discretionary and non-discretionary (ROA) adviser solutions across investments and superannuation. The best of breed managers not only bring their investment expertise but also the scale benefits to clients.”
Ms Bernasconi said for those managers that offer expertise in Australian listed or exchange traded products selection and asset allocation, the added benefit of WealthO2’s offering is that these assets are held on HIN by the end client.
“For investment clients that means both full legal ownership of the investment, and transparency, in addition to the tax benefits of the managed account. For superannuation clients this provides member level transparency and intraday trade execution, as well as member level tax component attribution.”
BlackRock Australia’s Head of Model Portfolio Solutions, Josh Persky, said “The addition of BlackRock Model Portfolios available on the WealthO2 platform is a welcome development. It enables advisers to use BlackRock’s models through both super and investments on HIN, increasing accessibility for more Australian investors to invest in cost-effective diversified investment solutions to fulfil their long-term financial goals.”
WealthO2 has seen sustained growth in managed accounts – with over $2.6bn FUA and over 5000 advised client accounts in under five years since launch.
