Andrew Whelan, Chief Executive Officer of WealthO2 said “the coming together of WealthO2, Roar and NEO creates an exciting and significant step in our innovation, capabilities and size of the team. This will enable us to offer highly flexible and solutions to financial advisers to solve any critical business issue.”

Whelan said “we now offer solutions to every challenge advisers face within their practice, either with our end-to-end solution, or by extracting any part of this and inserting it into an advisers existing workflow to solve a particular problem. We are a complete advice technology solutions provider as opposed to a product style platform which seem to have lost their focus and the planner.”

Kevin Liao, Chief Executive Officer of Roar who joins the group as Executive Director, Software Solutions said: “we are thrilled to join the WealthO2 Group with NEO. Both are highly complementary businesses with a strong track record of innovation. Advisers are crying out for solutions more than more product options, and I think this an exciting opportunity to offer something uniquely powerful to advice practices”.

Rudi Engelbrecht, Chief Executive Officer of NEO will join as Group Chief Operating Officer. He has more than 27 years’ experience building technology businesses globally. He says of the acquisition: “WealthO2 and NEO have worked side by side for many years and I look forward to delivering on the compelling vision the group has for helping advisers scale profitably.”

In a market first, WealthO2 will become the first wealth platform to offer end-to-end process efficiencies to any financial advice practice. The combined capabilities of the three businesses will enable advisers to be seamlessly guided from client engagement to strategy optimisation, digital SOA, through to execution in a single workflow. Clients will also be able track progress to their various lifestyle goals, in real time.

“WealthO2 is focused on offering flexible solutions across the entire advice process in a flexible, easy to implement way. Our feedback to date is that advisers are tiring of inflexible product based sales being forced upon them when most often they need a provider to listen and provide a tailored solution instead.”

WealthO2 was recently voted number one in the latest Adviser Ratings Australian Financial Advice Landscape Report – Platforms for both Adviser Support and Investment Options.

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Ahn Rutty

WealthO2 has appointed Ahn Rutty to the newly created role ‘head of client success’ as demand for their innovative adviser tech software solution increases.

Ahn will play a pivotal role in orchestrating the seamless onboarding of advisers to deliver efficiency across the end-to-end advice experience. She joins WealthO2 from Temenos where she was senior customer success manager. Prior to this she worked as a senior account manager at Rubik and Macquarie Group.

WealthO2 CEO, Andrew Whelan says adviser interest in WealthO2 is growing strongly, and that Ahn’s appointment is a result of this continued business growth and our commitment to delivering best in class service to our growing customer base.

“At WealthO2, we are focused on changing the game in the financial planning and software space. The ongoing regulatory and industry challenges facing financial advisers has served to highlight the importance of an investment platform’s role in increasing efficiency, driving down the cost of advice, increasing practice profitability and providing intergenerational low balance solutions.”

“Ahn joins the company during this strong period of growth and focus on new client onboarding. She brings extensive experience across customer success, key accounts, and relationship management to the team. She is a welcome addition to WealthO2, and the broader team will benefit from her understanding of process, insights and expertise.”

Ahn said ”I am excited to join the team at WealthO2, I have admired their reputation in the industry and mission to change the advice landscape”.

Her appointment follows several key appointments across the client service and relationship management teams over the recent months.

Her role will commence on 13 December 2021.

WealthO2 was voted number one in this year’s Adviser Ratings Australian Financial Advice Landscape Report – Platforms for both Adviser Support and Investment Options. WealthO2 also recently launched a managed discretionary account service with several top managed account investment managers, as well as a client portal app for Apple and Android devices.

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WealthO2’s head of product development, Hong Nguyen said: “The program is a fantastic result which further validates our product strategy inclusive of both short- and long-term development priorities.”

Simon Stevens, head of platform and product at Ord Minnett said: “We have been impressed with WealthO2’s highly innovative and differentiated technology and flexible approach to helping us.”

This announcement follows recent changes to the WealthO2 executive team and board announced last week with the appointment of Class Super founder, Richard Barber, and John Griffiths of Nimit Capital Partners to the board.

Andrew Whelan, acting chief executive officer of WealthO2 said: “This exciting pilot with Ord Minnett demonstrates our commitment to delivering meaningful efficiencies through customer-led technology innovation that puts advisers and their clients first.”

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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.

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Shannon Bernasconi

WealthO2 has launched an app on both Apple and Android to provide advisers and their clients with more flexible and streamlined access to their investment information.

Shannon Bernasconi, co-founder and managing director of WealthO2, said: “Advisers have been looking for smart phone access to their clients’ investments and super via an app, as a way of providing transparency on their holdings, returns and how they are progressing towards their goals,” she said.

“While increasingly we are seeing all ages of clientele utilising apps, it’s the next generation of adviser’s client who have viewed the issues from the Royal Commission and are even more aware of possible hidden fees and lack of transparency.

“Coupled with the new Your Future, Your Super reforms and the right of the consumer to transparency of assets, performance and of fees, a digital experience is key to advisers demonstrating value and trustworthiness to their clients, and also achieving strong client engagement.”

The new WealthO2 Client Portal app is a native app built to deliver easy and flexible access for advisers’ clients to their investment (including superannuation and pension) information. The UX usability based upon heuristic principles for app design contributes to the effectiveness, efficiency, and client satisfaction of the new app. It is the first in the market from an “on HIN” full-service platform provider.

According to the EY Global Wealth Management Research Report 2019^[1], the preference for mobile applications had doubled since 2016.  The report also showed that mobile apps were the preferred channel for 41% of clients for engaging with their financial adviser, followed by websites, face-to-face interactions and phone calls.

Ms Bernasconi said these numbers have only increased since the COVID-19 outbreak and the huge take-up of technology and virtual communications.

“Investors are much more comfortable with using technology to access all kinds of information and data than they were even a year ago, and advisers have also told us that many clients are more engaged with their financial strategies and processes thanks to the ease of technology.

“Taking the next step and providing investors with the capability to check their investments on their personalised app will only enhance engagement and interest.

“The new generation of investment platform client-centric, using technology innovation to deliver a digital client experience, to make advice more affordable, advisers more profitable and replaces revenue bias from products to customer service orientated design,” Ms Bernasconi said.

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[1] EY Global Wealth Management Research Report 2019 https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_gl/topics/wealth-and-asset-management/wealth-asset-management-pdfs/ey-global-wealth-management-research-report-2019.pdf

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Shannon Bernasconi

WealthO2 has lowered the administration fee on its Super Simplifier by 3.3 basis points, capping fees at $1760 per member or $3630 across six family members, effective 1 June 2021.

This reduction comes as more advisers are adopting WealthO2’s Super Simplifier into their practice, creating scale benefits that WealthO2 is passing on to members, says Shannon Bernasconi, managing director WealthO2.

“WealthO2’s philosophy is to align its business with that of advisers and their clients, and this fee reduction is in line with that philosophy. As our business has grown, our ability to reduce the overall fund costs has increased, and we are passing on this scale benefit to the many advisers and their clients who have helped make this happen.

“This fee reduction, coupled with no minimum fee, makes Super Simplifier a very cost-effective product for those advisers looking to provide a market leading advice offering for super and pension clients, as well as provide a profitable service to the typically lower balance adult children of existing clients.

Ms Bernasconi noted however, that while price is an important factor when choosing a super fund, an adviser’s best interest duty requires more than a focus on cost.

“Super Simplifier gives members the personalisation, transparency and flexibility of a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) but for a fraction of the cost.

“It is the only a low cost offering of its type in the market, and offers full transparency of assets through the use of the HIN structure and managed accounts.

“Unlike traditional platform offerings, all listed assets managed on WealthO2 are in the member’s designation name on HIN at a broker. All managed funds are held beneficially in a segregated WealthO2 uXchange account and all term deposits and at call funds are held in the member designation name through an Australian Money Market account.”

Ms Bernasconi says in any adviser practice, the total cost to client comes from both the cost to access the platform and the cost the adviser charges.

“The resulting profit margin for the adviser comes from how much the upfront advice document and process costs, and how efficiently that ongoing advice is managed.

“When it comes to lowering advice costs and increasing practice profitability, only the newer technology platforms like WealthO2 can afford to shift the margin from a product-led/ product-paid approach, to an advice-led and advice-paid focus.

“Platforms that haven’t kept up with the latest developments in technology have a higher cost of operation that is often recouped through hidden or layered fees. Hence the newer investment platforms like WealthO2 that don’t rely on cash fees, MER uplift or SMA fees for revenue, can lower the overall cost to the client even further.”

WealthO2 was recently voted number one in Investment platform Investment options in the Adviser Ratings 2020 Australian Financial Advice Landscape report as well as number one in Adviser Support.

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Shannon Bernasconi

WealthO2 has been ranked the number one investment platform in terms of ongoing adviser support, and the number one provider in terms of investment options, in the latest Adviser Ratings 2020 Australian Financial Advice Landscape report.

The Adviser Ratings report is an annual study of the Australian financial advice industry that includes a ranking of various attributes of the investment platforms and industry service providers.

WealthO2 was also voted in the top three, out of 20 providers, in net promoter scores and number three in overall functionality.

WealthO2 CEO and founder, Shannon Bernasconi says the report shows that advisers are voting with their feet.

“The demise of the vertically integrated institutional model of financial advice means independent financial advisers can, for the first time, access increased margins and a lower cost of advice for their clients.

“The next decade will be one where advisers have the opportunity to choose their own destiny, while also improving the efficiency and service they offer to clients, all at a lower cost.

“We are already seeing this shift underway, with a growing number of advisers voting with their feet and moving away from the older legacy platforms.

“WealthO2 was launched in 2016 to bridge the gap in the advice led technology available to advisers in the marketplace. It is designed on a unconflicted fee for service basis, putting the pricing power, the control of the narrative, the client communications, and the scale/efficiency back in the hands of the advisers, as well as removing the fee leakage of the current product led legacy platforms.”

She said that the combination of the findings of the Royal Commission and a continuously changing regulatory environment has seen the incumbents pushing resources into compliance rather than innovation.

“Some institutions have exhibited no real appetite to adopt or realise the benefits of modern technology – and advisers and their clients forced to use these laggard platforms have suffered.

“Others have engaged global software solutions to support new platform offerings, however these offerings have not been focussed on advisers’ needs. Instead, other revenue bias features have diverted the attention of these institutions and as a result advisers’ needs – and ultimately their clients’ needs – have been sidelined.

“At the same time, legacy platforms haven’t kept up with the latest developments in technology, leading to a higher cost of operation that is often recouped through hidden or layered fees.”

Ms Bernasconi says the WealthO2 offering adopts a naked pricing approach that has proven popular with advisers.

“We listen to advisers and what’s important to them. We have no other revenue source, no cash or investment clipping and hence we have a singular focus that propels our roadmap and our service culture”.

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Shannon Bernasconi

Recent legislative changes around consent to charge adviser fees are prompting a number of advisers to reconsider their existing platform relationships, in part because of a disagreement over who owns the relationship with clients, says Shannon Bernasconi, Managing Director, WealthO2.

Last week, the government passed the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal 4 Commission Response) Bill which means that, from 1 July 2021, superannuation fund members must consent annually to trustees deducting ongoing adviser fees.

Ms Bernasconi says that a number of platforms have taken the step of contacting clients of adviser groups directly, without the advisers’ knowledge, about the changes – in some cases, six months in advance of the legislation being introduced.

“Understandably, many advisers are unhappy to discover that their platform provider has been in direct contact with their clients, without notifying them first, to advise them of potential changes to their fees.

“This isn’t the first time that some platforms have contacted clients of advisers – we saw similar instances when fees and commissions were turned off by some platforms well in advance of legislation.

“No doubt the platforms believe they have good reasons for taking this step, and circumventing the adviser’s relationship with their clients.  They may claim that it is a regulatory requirement, or perhaps an action to reduce liability.  Another reason may be that they lack the technological ability to obtain consent in a more adviser led or digital way.

“However it can be argued that the direct contact from platforms – often without the knowledge of the adviser – has caused unnecessary concern for clients and, as a result, for advisers,” Ms Bernasconi said.

She added that this issue is playing into a broader shift of advisers taking more control of which product, platform or service they use.

“The exit of the banks from the wealth management industry, and the migration of those advisers away from aligned distribution, is changing the way adviser groups select and use providers such as platforms, with more choice and flexibility now available to them.

“We find it surprising that some platforms have chosen taken a very blinkered approach with advisers, which doesn’t take into account the annual review process where the client is consenting to fees already.  Many platforms also don’t have the ability to generate a digital consent-based workflow and revert to a paper trail, adding more administration to the adviser process.

“Newer technology providers such as WealthO2 offer useful features such as bulk emails and bulk reporting that can be customised by the practice, with electronic digital signature workflows that allow advisers to control the content and “push and pull” of communications to the client, storing the compliance documents and activating consent based workflows.

“Another consideration for advisers are the providers who have integrated digital signatures and alignment of adviser opt in and annual fee arrangements with the Reform requirements.

“Such offerings provide advisers with control of the narrative and branding of communications with their clients, which can give both sides greater peace of mind,” Ms Bernasconi says.

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Mr Whelan joins WealthO2 from Midwinter where he led the sales, marketing and distribution teams.

Prior to this Mr Whelan held various senior roles including as director of advisor services at Milliman, and head of advisor services at Morningstar.

Ms Bernasconi, said: “Andrew has more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services market and his experience with Milliman, Morningstar and other financial technology providers makes him a good fit for the WealthO2 team.

“Andrew’s core focus throughout his career has been on developing new business opportunities as well as assisting advisers to deliver exceptional client outcomes.

“His appointment comes as WealthO2 is rapidly expanding the penetration of its adviser platform alternative in the market.

“WealthO2 offers leading advice-led technology, along with a broad service offering, that is unlike that of existing platforms. It is focused on supporting advisers by shifting the margin to the adviser and lowering costs of advice to clients.

“Andrew’s appointment to the executive team supports this strategic position.

This appointment follows the recent appointments of the Founders of HUB24, COIN and Macquarie Wrap to the WealthO2 board. Neil Roderick joined the board as Chairman and Darren Pettiona joined as Executive Director.

Mr Whelan holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Economics from Macquarie University.

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Shannon Bernasconi

Adviser platform alternative WealthO2 has passed the $2 billion mark in funds under administration, reflecting the growing demand from advisers for a low cost fee for service, unconflicted, adviser platform alternative.

Shannon Bernasconi, CEO, WealthO2 says in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fees clients pay for personal advice, platforms and investment are under even more heightened scrutiny as asset levels have fallen.

“WealthO2 is the fastest growing adviser platform solution on an FUA basis, achieved during the midst of the COVID-19 uncertainty in markets. This growth is as a result of financial adviser demand for a conflict free investment platform model, and comes off the back of the unprecedented structural change in the advice industry,” she says.

“Wealth management practices want efficiencies and savings through technology, with the expectation that software and platform providers will act transparently and with integrity.

“FASEA’s Code of Ethics puts the onus on advisers to remove conflicts and act in best interests of the client. Products should be used as an output of good advice, and all the providers in the value chain, such as platforms and fund managers, should be paid a fee directly based on their value-added services.

“WealthO2’s naked pricing approach of the platform appeals to advisers, as it strips out fees exchanged between third parties in the value chain of advice, and discloses only those fees payable by a client on a clean basis, void of revenue bias or conflict.

“Advisers and advice, not products, are the essential lead in the wealth value chain, and the ability for technology and service providers to help advisers deliver lower overall fees to clients whilst making more profit decently will go a long way in securing the best possible outcome for clients,” Ms Bernasconi says.

The strong growth follows WealthO2’s recent launch of the WealthO2 Academy – which supports adviser education on the new features and provides CPD points for the training, the introduction of a new rebalance functionality – which provides further flexibility in the execution for market conditions or client best interest purposes, the appointment of Matthew Done as chief technology officer and the release of WealthO2’s new digital meeting tool which was launched in response to adviser Covid-19 demand.

A rollout of further enhancements and features will be delivered during 2020, making it even easier to access the benefits of the adviser platform alternative.

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