Stacey Cowan

Midwinter Financial Services (Midwinter) has announced it has partnered with Scale Up Paraplanning, TNW Solutions, and Rocket Services to create an integrated paraplanning solution for advisers.

Midwinter has launched the Paraplanning Partners Program following a successful pilot phase. This program connects Midwinter’s clients with a network of highly skilled paraplanning professionals trained in the Midwinter software, enabling seamless collaboration and efficient delivery of paraplanning and administrative services.

 A key feature of the program is the unique paraplanning license, providing a secure and streamlined way for paraplanners to access specified client records through the Midwinter financial advice software. This facilitates the seamless delivery of external paraplanning and administrative services, with advice businesses able to tap into this expertise and additional resource pool when required.

Stacey Cowan, Head of Advice, Midwinter says, “Following a successful pilot, Midwinter is thrilled to be partnering with leading paraplanning providers to create a holistic offer to advisers, ensuring they can operate efficiently and effectively in delivering expert advice to their clients. With the support of our trusted paraplanners, advice businesses can confidently embrace Midwinter and focus on what matters most – their clients.”

Alex Gassner, General Manager, Scale Up Paraplanning says, “We are excited to be one of the inaugural members of Midwinter’s Paraplanning Partners Program. This represents a pivotal opportunity for Scale Up Paraplanning to enhance our partnership, deepen industry ties, and strengthen the quality of our service offering. By focusing on our strengths and collaborating to maximise the provision of quality advice, we’re able to better serve our clients and help them reach their goal of scaling advice operations. As we continue to progress on this journey, we are confident that this partnership will shape a promising and transformative future for our business, setting a new standard of excellence in the financial planning sector.”

Esha Khosla, Director, TNW Solutions says, “We are very excited to be a part of the Midwinter’s paraplanning program. Together with Midwinter, we are aspiring to challenge the status quo and add value in the financial planning space. We have a common objective to increase our footprint in the financial services industry and are looking forward to this partnership which will make way for opportunities to service more customers by providing feasible, cost-effective and efficient solutions for advisers and their practices.”

Damien Winberg, Director, Rocket Services says, “We are thrilled to be working with Midwinter as a preferred support partner. Rocket Services has long supported Midwinter’s intuitive software, which coupled with their commitment to ongoing training and customer satisfaction, has been instrumental in our success. This collaboration allows us to bring our expertise in Paraplanning and Admin to a broader audience, offering financial planning practices a seamless back office solution and Advisers more time to focus on delivering outstanding advice to their clients.”

TNW Solutions is an independent Australian-owned and operated business, providing efficient and high-quality paraplanning services nationwide. Scale Up Paraplanning is an Australian-based back-office service provider that delivers outsourced paraplanning, admin/research and practice consulting services. Rocket Services creates, sources and connects expertise offshore to deliver seamless support to clients.

 The Paraplanning Partners Program marks another milestone in Midwinter’s commitment to delivering innovative solutions that support the financial planning industry. 

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Stacey Cowan

Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd (Midwinter) has announced CQUniversity Australia’s financial planning students have successfully completed Term 1, 2023 using the software, as Midwinter continues to support the development of qualified financial advisers.

In March 2023, Midwinter announced a partnership with CQUniversity to provide financial planning software to its students undertaking financial planning units. With this partnership, Midwinter is supporting CQUniversity with access to the technology students will use once they enter the workforce, setting them up for success in their profession.

Following a successful first term, CQUniversity is now developing the financial planning units around the Midwinter software further, with a view to making the modules mandatory from 2024.

Stacey Cowan, Head of Sales at Midwinter says, “The Midwinter team has been really impressed with how readily CQU students engaged with the Midwinter financial advice software. With the industry on the cusp of significant change following the Quality of Advice review, knowledge of advice technology is critical. With this partnership, students can practice and learn new financial planning skills, and familiarise themselves with real-life technology as they prepare to enter the workforce and become financial advice professionals.”

Dr. Angelique N. McInnes, Lecturer, College of Business and Law at CQUniversity says, “Students were highly engaged with the Midwinter software. They were able to familiarise themselves with the software quickly, and use the Cashflow Modelling, Super Modelling, Portfolio modelling and product comparison modelling tools effectively.”

Lachlan Melville, Bachelor of Accounting student at CQUniversity says, “This software gave us a really good insight into the type of software used by financial planners. We received good guidance from Midwinter around the use of the software throughout the term, giving us important hands-on experience as we look for job opportunities. Use of the technology also allows us to add another skillset to improve our resume.”

As part of the agreement, CQUniversity’s financial planning students have access to Midwinter’s financial advice software, as well as training to support the students using the technology.

The advice software is available to students studying a Bachelor of Business, a Bachelor of Accounting, and a Bachelor of Property Studies, as well as other non-business courses with financial planning units.

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Stacey Cowan

Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd (Midwinter) has announced a partnership with CQUniversity Australia to provide financial planning software to its students undertaking financial planning units.

As part of the agreement, CQUniversity’s financial planning students will be able to access Midwinter’s financial advice software, as well as training to support the students using the technology.

The digital advice software will be available to students studying a Bachelor of Business, a Bachelor of Accounting, and a Bachelor of Property Studies, as well as other non-business courses with financial planning units.

Stacey Cowan, Head of Sales at Midwinter says, “With adviser numbers continuing to fall across the industry, Midwinter is excited to support the development of future qualified financial advisers by providing access to advice technology during their education.”

“Midwinter’s modules not only allow students to practice and learn new financial planning skills, but also to familiarise themselves with real-life technology as they prepare to enter the workforce and become financial advice professionals.”

Dr. Angelique N. McInnes, Lecturer, College of Business and Law at CQUniversity, says “CQUniversity is thrilled about the opportunity this partnership offers to our students. The financial services industry is changing fast – and it is now more critical than ever for current and future professionals to understand how technology can help stay compliant and more efficient,” Dr. McInnes commented.

Midwinter’s financial advice modules will be available to all CQUniversity students undertaking financial planning units from Term 1 2023 onwards.

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Andrew Zietara

Midwinter, a Bravura Solutions Limited company, has announced an integration with Inherit Australia, an estate planning platform connecting financial planners and lawyers.

Advisers using Midwinter financial advice software can now seamlessly pull their client data into Inherit Australia.

The Inherit software uses a sophisticated legal bot that replicates the line of questioning of an experienced estate planning lawyer to help advisers navigate estate planning conversations with their clients. This allows advisers to complete the data collection and testamentary wishes process without providing legal advice. The process does not require any prior estate planning knowledge or experience.

The one-way integration from Midwinter to Inherit eliminates the need for double data-handling while ensuring the integrity of client data stored in the Midwinter client profile.

“Advisers already have a trusted relationship with their clients; when it comes to estate planning, it makes sense for them to lead these conversations,” said Andrew Zietara, Head of Product at Midwinter. “This integration builds on our partner ecosystem, providing advisers with increased functionality and efficiency.”

Chris Hill, Legal Co-Founder at Inherit Australia said, “it’s all about deepening the adviser-client relationship; this integration puts the adviser in the box seat and cements them as the lead adviser of their clients and their families in the accumulation, protection and distribution of wealth on death.”

Registration to Inherit Australia is free on a pay-as-you-go plan and provides opportunity for advisers to grow their service offering and create a new income stream. Midwinter’s API integration requires authorisation by account holders, followed by a straightforward web authentication process to connect accounts.

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Andrew Zietara

Midwinter, a Bravura Solutions Limited company, has today announced the extension of its advice software with the launch of MultiGoal, a strategic goal optimisation engine for financial advisers.

Advisers using Midwinter’s financial advice software can now access the interactive and visually engaging tool to assist their clients in achieving their financial goals, such as paying off their mortgage or saving for a holiday, based on their situation and goal priority.

With MultiGoal, advisers can provide goals-based advice in real-time, including reviewing and prioritising a client’s goals and generating a quick statement of advice. It can be used in front of clients as part of an educational and consultative discussion, showing the value of advice and strengthening advisers’ client pipelines.

The solution uses client financial information to quickly provide strategic direction, with multiple goals, scenarios and trade-offs evaluated in one meeting.

Andrew Zietara, Head of Product at Midwinter says, “At Midwinter we are continuously innovating our software so our clients can provide better financial outcomes. We are pleased to roll out a solution that helps the advice profession showcase the value of advice while reducing upfront costs to deliver this advice.”

“MultiGoal’s easy-to-use interface stands out for its simplicity and its ability to be used in front of clients to show the impact of different goal priorities, allowing for more relevant conversations during client meetings and reduced time and effort to produce a statement of advice.”

MultiGoal is available now following a successful beta trial with Midwinter customers.

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Steve Davison

Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd (Midwinter) has announced that AIA Australia has selected its advice software for their Financial Wellbeing business.

AIA Financial Wellbeing is a new advice business offering affordable, reliable, and straightforward solutions for life and health insurance, superannuation, and wealth advice.

Midwinter’s financial advice software will underpin all aspects of advice generation, enable efficiencies, and support compliance at AIA Financial Wellbeing.

AIA selected Midwinter because it offered comprehensive advice software that required minimal customisation to meet their requirements. AIA Financial Wellbeing were operational on the software following an implementation of just over four months.

CEO of AIA Financial Wellbeing, Pina Sciarrone, said “Midwinter has been easy to work with and their comprehensive and configurable software has helped us quickly stand-up our new advice business. We’re excited about the partnership and Midwinter’s ability to support our goal of enhancing the financial wellbeing of Australians.”

Chief Commercial Officer of Midwinter, Steve Davison, said “We’re proud to have been selected as the financial advice software partner for AIA Financial Wellbeing. This is a testament to the completeness of our advice software and vision, and our team’s ability to implement the software quickly and effectively.”

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Hamilton joins Midwinter from start-up life insurer Integrity Life where, as Head of Development, he was focused on creating a technology ecosystem that would make life insurance more accessible. Prior to this, Hamilton held solution architecture roles in AMP and Westfarmers Insurance.

“Technology, when designed and implemented right, can be an important differentiator for an advice business,” Hamilton said.

“I am excited to join the Midwinter team to build on the great work they have already done and help take our advice solutions to the next level. Technology advances way quicker than the financial services industry can; my role will be to look for opportunities to harness new technologies in a way that helps advisers better engage their clients and reduces their cost to serve, helping them achieve the outcomes they want in their business.”

Steve Davison, Chief Commercial Officer at Midwinter is pleased to have Hamilton on the team.

“Fraser brings a wealth of technology knowledge and experience to Midwinter,” said Davison.

“This extensive experience, combined with his innovative thinking, will help Midwinter stay at the forefront of advice technology, so we can help our customers harness the power of technology in their business.”

This appointment will allow one of Midwinter’s original Founders, Andrew McClelland, to step back from day to day activities and free up his time to focus on strategic initiatives.

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Zietara joins Midwinter from capital market technology solution provider GBST, where he was focused on enterprise technology strategy and delivery. Prior to this, Zietara held positions in AMP in both a licensee management and an advice practice coaching capacity. In these roles he helped hundreds of advice practices evolve their business model and value proposition.

“I am passionate about the difference technology can make in financial advice,” Zietara said.

“There is a big opportunity for advice businesses to improve efficiency through technology, particularly for advice production and compliance. I also believe many Australians could benefit from advice if it was more accessible. I am excited to join a company that is building technology that will unlock these opportunities.”

Steve Davison, Chief Commercial Officer at Midwinter welcomes the appointment.

“We are delighted Andrew has joined Midwinter as our new Head of Product,” said Davison.

“In this role, Andrew will lead the product strategy and proposition for Midwinter. His background in financial advice consulting, licensee management and financial services technology implementation make him a great fit to provide both forward-thinking innovation and delivery discipline for Midwinter’s advice software.”

Zietara’s appointment as Midwinter’s Head of Product is effective from Monday 11 October 2021.

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Steve Davison

Midwinter Financial Services Pty Ltd (Midwinter) has announced an integration with Moneysoft, a provider of client engagement software for financial advisers, mortgage brokers and the financial services industry.

Advisers using Midwinter’s AdviceOS and Moneysoft’s Fact Find solution can now seamlessly push and pull data between the two systems.

The integration allows advisers to select which system they would like as the source of truth for each piece of data, and which data to sync between the systems. This provides a highly granular level of control through a simple integration that eliminates double handling of data.

Steve Davison, Chief Commercial Officer at Midwinter, is pleased to have Moneysoft onboard as Midwinter’s newest integration partner.

“We are committed to providing our clients with choice and flexibility and our growing number of native integration partners is one of the ways Midwinter is achieving that goal. This integration allows advisers who use Moneysoft’s Fact Find solution to seamlessly integrate their data with AdviceOS to make use of its sophisticated financial modelling, product comparison and client engagement features.”

Jon Shaw, Chief Executive Office at Moneysoft, also welcomed the integration with AdviceOS.

“Midwinter’s AdviceOS is the latest addition to the Moneysoft integration library and the Midwinter team have been outstanding with technical support and product collaboration throughout. We are proud to add the integrated fact find capability to our solution stack, which will benefit IFA’s, dealer groups and funds looking to automate and digitise the advice process. This integration is specifically designed to improve completion rates, significantly increase the efficiency of advice delivery, and reward clients and members by compressing the interest-to-execution timeframe. The Moneysoft team is looking forward to work with Midwinter on a number of upcoming deployments”.

The Moneysoft integration is available now, on request, to all AdviceOS customers.

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Paul Dunn

Superannuation funds that fail to engage their members through digital advice could find their products are no longer competitive as rivals increasingly build a more holistic suite of services.

The need to deliver quality financial advice at scale is growing as superannuation funds strive to close the advice gap for young members and offer accessible advice options to a larger percentage of their member base.

“Super funds’ have an important and fundamental role underpinning the retirement lifestyles of all Australians,” according to Bravura Client Relations and Sales Director – APAC, Paul Dunn.

“Offering greater levels of support delivered through scalable digital advice is becoming an important way for funds to engage and educate members. We are currently working with major super funds to ramp up their digital advice offerings.”

As well as helping members plan for retirement, digital advice can also help funds improve member retention.

“Older members with higher balances naturally seek financial advice, often prompting them to switch to a new fund or a self-managed super fund. This undermines the scale of the fund they are leaving, which is critical to keeping fees and other costs low. Digital advice delivered at scale is part of the solution.”

Rising scale underpins digital advice

The prudential regulator is driving a new wave of consolidation across the $3 trillion super industry as a way to lower fees and improve retirement outcomes.

About eight super funds merged last financial year and about 15 more mergers are in progress, APRA Deputy Chair Helen Rowell told a Senate Estimates hearing in March^[1]. The mega scale of these funds has created a new impetus to offer digital advice at scale.

There are now at least seven super funds that each serve more than 1 million members, and more are likely to be created by mergers over the next 1-2 years. The relationship between funds and their members has largely been passive, partly because retirement funds are historically locked away for decades, but the situation is changing.

Midwinter Head of Professional Services Annie McCabe says its digital advice tools are becoming increasingly popular.

“The digital channel can help meet the significant unmet demand for financial advice in the community, particularly for those who would not otherwise seek advice due to its cost or because of inertia,” McCabe said.

Midwinter’s AdviceOS advice platform is used by financial planners and also integrated into Bravura’s registry system, Sonata Alta, which is used by super funds.

“AdviceOS powered advice delivered to more than 170,000 individuals across multiple channels in the last year. Digital advice is helping financial planners become more efficient and deliver high-quality strategic advice – now the same underlying advice engine is also helping super funds deliver advice to their members.”

A 2019 ASIC report on what consumers think about financial advice found that only 1% of survey recipients had received digital advice yet 19% were open to it^[2]. About 20% of Australians had considered getting financial advice in the last 12 months but had not gone ahead. Of those people, 37% were open to using digital advice.

“Those who expressed some interest in digital advice saw it as a potentially convenient, lower cost option,” the report found.

Why scalable financial advice is now a reality

Major super funds are now using their size to seamlessly integrate digital advice with their administration system, which needs to process member transactions quickly and accurately. However, this isn’t a major competitive differentiator between funds unless they can leverage it to also offer scaled advice to members when they need it.

“Funds should be the go-to destination for members during their ‘moments that matter’, such as approaching retirement. The technology now exists to integrate intuitive digital advice with an administration platform, creating quality advice at scale,” said Dunn.

“The advice is immediately executable by the member and produces a compliant Statement of Advice. A member’s relationship with their super fund could ultimately become as seamless and self-directed as the relationship they have with internet banking.”

This combination sets the foundation for straight-through-processing. It creates efficiencies and also allows members to track the status of any advice, such as an investment switch or change to life insurance.

Integrated digital advice is also highly customisable by super funds. For example, a fund can create triggers targeting advice towards certain member cohorts (such as those nearing retirement or those with large balances).

A number of major super funds are currently on this digital advice journey.

Rest Advice Online has been powered by Midwinter’s AdviceOS system since 2016 and gives members retirement advice that automatically generates a Statement of Advice. Rest Online Advice reported a 252% year-on-year increase in interactions over the 2019-20 financial year, with particularly strong take-up from younger members and women^[3].

Aware Super is also implementing an integrated ecosystem of Bravura products, underpinned by Sonata Alta and encompassing AdviceOS, Babel Superstream messaging and member and adviser digital offerings.

Bravura acquired Midwinter and its popular AdviceOS platform in August 2019, which has been integrated into Bravura’s broader wealth solutions.

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