Matt Heine

Netwealth Investments Limited (Netwealth) and Income Asset Management Group Limited (IAM) have partnered to provide financial advisers with direct access to small parcel bonds through the Netwealth investment platform.

Netwealth chief executive officer and managing director, Matt Heine, said the partnership is a result of the increasing demand from Netwealth clients for bond products, particularly given the higher interest rate environment.

“The partnership with IAM signifies an expansion of our offering to include a diverse range of bonds, and furthers our commitment to better support clients by broadening the fixed income investment options available.

“By opening up access to bonds, we’re enabling more Australians to diversify their portfolios in a way that was previously restricted to large institutional investors.

“IAM’s ability to offer access to a wide array of bonds, including investment grade, high yield, domestic, and international bonds complements our existing services. The partnership expands our platform’s appeal by providing a complete, integrated solution for fixed income investments,” he said.

In Australia, bonds have typically been available to wholesale investors for purchase in large parcel sizes ($500,000 and over), however under the arrangement with Netwealth, IAM will provide investors with access to smaller bond parcels, starting at $50,000.

IAM chief executive, Jon Lechte, said this improved level of accessibility means advisers and their clients can benefit from the investment opportunities in the domestic corporate bond market.

“Corporate bonds play an important role in the strategic asset allocation of client portfolios as the middle ground of investments, with investment grade credit typically displaying much lower volatility compared with equities, and a greater level of income than cash and term deposits.

“Our partnership with Netwealth means advisers can build portfolios of direct bonds through the Netwealth platform, negating the need to manage investments across multiple platforms. It also streamlines reporting, with is available directly from the platform.

“With higher interest rates, yields on Australian corporate bonds have also adjusted and are now providing investors with attractive yields. This has seen interest from advisers increase, and now we’re able to offer more than 300 bonds via the Netwealth platform. This is a really positive development for the local adviser market,” he said.

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Kendall Flutey

Key points:

• Netwealth in partnership with a NZ tech company, is bringing a financial literacy program to Australia targeting 15,000 kids nationally over the next 12 months.
• Known as Banqer, the program aligns with Netwealth’s desire to inspire Australians to see wealth differently and to discover a brighter future.
  Banqer is a virtual classroom economy created where kids can learn to earn, save, spend and invest their money in a safe and engaging way.
• Netwealth is the proud supporter of a ground breaking financial literacy program which over the next 12 months will be released nationally across Australia to an estimated 15,000 students, fully funded, forever changing the financial futures of these young Australians.

A breakthrough in financial literacy in Australia, the program known as Banqer, teaches kids about money and financial concepts, giving them the chance to learn about money in a safe, engaging and fun way.

According to Netwealth Joint Managing Director, Matt Heine, supporting the program is an excellent way for Netwealth to extend its wealth philosophy to Australian kids.

“Netwealth was created to provide investors and wealth professionals with a better way to invest, protect and manage their current and future wealth,” he said. “We seek to enable, educate and inspire people to see wealth differently and to discover a brighter future. Banqer is a great opportunity for us to extend this purpose supporting a program that starts kids on this journey.”

More than 30,000 students from 450 schools in New Zealand currently use Banqer, as well as a handful of teachers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and South Africa. Banqer is currently being used by 28 schools in Australia, with plans to take it to the US this year.

“We all want a brighter future for our kids, and that means making sure programs like Banqer get into our schools so kids can learn in a practical way, life-long concepts about money,” said Heine. “We are very proud to have brought this program to Australian kids.”

Launched in New Zealand in 2015 and the brainchild of accountant turned developer and Banqer CEO Miss Kendall Flutey, kids can influence their financial environment by doing classroom jobs to earn cash or offering services to other children. Any virtual money that they earn from rewards for good behaviour or classroom jobs, they can choose to save, spend or invest in houses in a virtual real estate market.

Teachers can use the program’s reward system to help motivate kids, encouraging development and confidence. Kids learn valuable life skills by managing the rental of their desks and paying for class privileges. Teachers can also trigger virtual earthquakes or sudden interest rate rises to emphasise the benefits of insurance and to demonstrate the importance of savings relative to debt.

“Banqer helps kids get curious, creative, and ultimately, confident with money,” said Flutey. “It has been embraced by kids and teachers, but is also transcending geographical borders as we all start to understand financial literacy is a global challenge.”

Attending the launch event in Sydney, the Chairman of the Australian Government’s Financial Literacy Board, Mr Paul Clitheroe said the obvious starting point for financial literacy was with kids. “You have to start early with good habits in life, and money is no different,” he said. “To get the full benefits of strategies such as compounding, it is about the long-term and that means getting started young.”

Kids in Year 1 to Year 5 learn money management and personal finance topics such as income, savings and interest while Years 6 and 7 learn about topics such as mortgages, rent, paying tax, paying excesses on insurance claims.

The recent Young Australian Survey by Roy Morgan Research which surveyed more than 2,500 Australian kids aged 6-13 years found 76% of them saved money. Of this group who did save money, the highest proportion (25%) had saved between $1-$49. Meanwhile, most kids surveyed spend their money on toys (44.7%), with a close second saving it in a bank (43.6%). Buying snacks and drinks came in at number three at 29.3%.

“All kids deserve a great start to life and being financially literate, being confident and curious, is a huge step towards this goal,” said Heine. “We are very excited by the future we are working with Banqer to create.”

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Kate’s appointment brings the number of netwealth non-executive directors to 3 including Jane Tongs, a former PWC partner who is the netwealth chairman and former Mallesons Stephen Jaques managing partner, Davyd Lewis.

Commenting on the appointment Michael Heine, netwealth Managing Director, said: “I am very pleased that someone of Kate’s experience and industry standing is joining our board. Her strategic insights from senior leadership roles in platforms and funds management, as well as in nancial services law, will be a real advantage for us.”

Ms Mulligan said, “I am very pleased to join the netwealth board. As a diversied nancial services organisation, netwealth provides a very attractive proposition to the market place”.

She added, “In light of pressure from FOFA for all planners to provide impartial advice, I expect netwealth’s position as the leading non-institutional platform to be further enhanced.”

Kate has over eighteen years experience in senior leadership roles in the nancial services industry. She was appointed Managing Director on the boards of Advance and Ventura/All Star Funds Management, where she successfully created a boutique funds manager. She has chaired the Disclosure and Retirement Incomes Committees for the industry body, the (now) Financial Services Council, and is a qualified solicitor. She is also the Managing Director of King Irving Consulting Group, which provides services to the financial services industry.

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