BT staff to support LGBTI youth on the ‘Wear it Purple’ Day.

BT continues to show its support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) youth by asking all employees to Wear it Purple and producing a powerful and personal video of employees sharing their stories with the LGBTI community through ‘It Gets Better’.

It Gets Better

As announced in May BT is proud to be a principal partner of It Gets Better Australia – a non-profit organisation helping LGBTI youth cope with harassment and discrimination relating to their sexuality.

BT Financial Group (BTFG) Chief Executive Officer, Brad Cooper, said the sponsorship and ongoing programs within BTFG are about supporting LGBTI youth with the challenges they face due to community attitudes and the pressure and isolation felt when “coming out.”

It Gets Better Australia aims to show young LGBTI people the levels of happiness, potential and positivity their lives can reach. The organisation uses videos to capture the voices of adult LGTBI people who have experienced bullying and discrimination and who have come out the other side to live happy, fulfilling and successful lives.

BT Financial Group, Westpac and St. George employees (all part of the Westpac Group) have made their own video sharing powerful and deeply personal stories in the hope they will inspire LGBTI youth to feel supported and send the message that things really do get better.

Wear it Purple

August 29 is Wear It Purple Day, a day to show support for LGBTI youth by dressing in purple. It’s a day to empower LGBTI youth and raise awareness across schools, universities, workplaces and the general community about the challenges these youths face.

Statistics show (LGBTI) people have an increased risk of being bullied, discriminated against and assaulted, and suffer from mental health concerns as a consequence.

According to a report by the National LGBTI Health Alliance, 80% of LGBTI people in Australia experience public insults, 20% explicit threats and 13% physical assault, with the most ‘at risk’ places being home and school.

“This lack of acceptance and bullying has a knock-on effect for social and health outcomes, making it more likely for these youths to suffer mental health problems, drop out of school, use drugs, run away from home and even commit suicide,” Mr Cooper said.

Taking part in Wear It Purple Day is about building a world that allows every young person to thrive – no matter what their sexuality or gender identity. BT is working with It Gets Better and supporting Wear It Purple with the aim that LGBTI young people will be safe, supported and empowered.

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Anne Fuchs

The Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) has appointed Anne Fuchs to the new role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

Ms Fuchs will be charged with the responsibilities of income generation and servicing of AFA’s commercial stakeholders being members, licensees and corporate partners. The role also carries responsibility for AFA’s Consumer Brand campaign, Your Best Interests (YBI).

Ms Fuchs, who took up the position today, has for the past four-and-a-half years consulted to the AFA on their strategic partnerships.  She has a 17-year career in financial services, including 11 years in business and practice development roles with ING Australia, Colonial First State, and BT Financial Group and, more recently, five years heading up her own venture, Pinnacle Practice. Two years ago, Pinnacle Practice launched the highly successful, MyDealerGroup, a matchmaking service for advisers and licensees offering advisory services to financial planners and licensees around their AFSL strategy, client value proposition and fees/terms.

AFA CEO Brad Fox said he is delighted to have someone with Ms Fuchs’ wealth of industry experience and in-depth knowledge of the AFA join the team. “Anne has a unique understanding of financial advisers, licensees and the industry as a whole,” he said. “She has already demonstrated her energy, commitment and passion for the AFA and the advice profession and in her role as CCO will be able to further grow and develop the AFA’s widening spheres of influence and reputation as the association of choice for advisers.”

Ms Fuchs said she feels privileged to have been a part of the AFA’s journey so far and welcomes the opportunity to pursue a career which allows her to impact the bigger picture. “I have a high conviction for public policy and am looking forward to working in a position of influence with a professional association whose core purpose is to influence the fabric of the financial advice profession and the broader financial services sector to achieve great advice for more Australians. Anyone who knows me knows that is where my heart lies.

MyDealerGroup has been sold to Forte Asset Solutions, headed up by Steve Prendeville. “I am delighted to hand over MyDealerGroup to Steve,” Ms Fuchs said. “We have a strong alignment in our business model in working with advice firms and licensees to achieve their growth objectives. With a relationship extending back to when I worked at ING, I know that he also values professional reputation, has expertise in understanding what business owners want and a strong track record of performance.”

Ms Fuchs said she will be working with Forte Asset Solutions through the transition period to ensure the continuity of quality service for MyDealerGroup clients.

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Brad Cooper

BT Financial Group Chief Executive Brad Cooper has called for a radical overhaul of consumer access to information on Australia’s financial planners.

“We think all Australians should have access to as much information as possible to help them make informed choices about the quality of financial planners across the country,” Mr Cooper said.

“We believe there are a range of factors that determine whether a financial adviser is right for them. Education is critical but assessed in isolation does not provide a full picture of the quality and suitability of an adviser.

“For some time we have advocated that access to meaningful information on financial planners will help improve the transparency that Australians deserve. We have long supported the creation of a public register that would encompass the education, years of experience, employment history and areas of expertise and annual certification results for every financial planner in Australia.

“Most importantly we would like to see a customer rating for all advisers that would be widely accessible by all Australians.

“A common industry standard covering advice audits is also required to support the register.

“It was especially pleasing to see the Government’s initiative to establish a working group to examine the creation of such a register.”

Mr Cooper said he was pleased to see other industry participants supporting elements of this agenda.

“To be effective, our aim is to have a collective effort from across the industry for this initiative.”

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John Shuttleworth

Going live with the Avaloq Banking Suite on new BT Panorama Operating Platform creates new opportunities for Avaloq to enter the global wealth ‘Platform’ market.

The Avaloq group, an international leader in integrated and comprehensive solutions for wealth management, universal and retail banks, today announced that its first Australian customer has gone ‘live’ with its innovative Banking Suite software.

BT Financial Group, the wealth management arm of the Westpac Group, has successfully completed its first milestone in the implementation of the Avaloq Banking Suite. The new platformwill replace as many as seven heritage systems, and provide more than 13,000 BTFG users with the ability to manage a broad range of investments via a single application.

Avaloq is providing the core technologies to BT Financial Group’s new Panorama operating system, the first phase of which recently went live with the launch of the cash/term deposit component of the platform. The next deliverable, investment platform functionality, is currently being rolled out to the Panorama platform.

“The contribution of Avaloq to the first release of BT Financial Group’s Panorama operating system has been significant. We are looking forward to continuing this relationship as we roll out this important new phase in Australian financial services,” said John Shuttleworth, General Manager – Platforms and Operations at BT Financial Group.

“Going live with BT Financial Group is an important milestone in our expansion plans for the region. The progressive adaptation of the Avaloq Banking Suite to the Australian financial ‘Platform’ sector, positions us for local growth and other markets. We anticipate future interest from the UK and also the Asia Pacific region, where demand for these solutions continues to grow,” says Peter Scott, Avaloq Regional General Manager, Asia Pacific.

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From 1993 until 2004 Melinda held a number of senior superannuation roles with BT Financial Group.

Since then she has held roles including Chief Executive Officer with the Actuaries Institute and Director of Policy and Industry Practice with the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.

Melinda joins BT Financial Group from AMP where she was Director, Product, Strategy and Services.

BT Financial Group Chief Executive Officer, Brad Cooper, said Melinda Howes’ experience would provide significant benefits for BT’s superannuation customers.

“Melinda’s actuarial, solution and leadership skills, combined with BT’s existing product expertise in insurance and superannuation will help us solve more savings and risk issues for our customers,” Mr Cooper said.

“Across the Westpac Group brands we have eight million Australians who have a MySuper product with another provider. However, more and more of these customers are recognising the advantages of switching their superannuation and investment choices to BT Financial Group where we are able to provide them with the best product solution and the best service, which is focused on their needs.

“Melinda will bring even more focus to our product and service offering, with her understanding of superannuation generally which is what Australians are looking for and what is important to them.”

Mr Cooper said having Westpac bank customers switch their MySuper superannuation account to BT is a priority. He said he recognised the need to be the best MySuper provider at Australian’s place of work and this would now be a simpler prospect as Melinda’s understanding of workplace superannuation was second to none.

“When Australians are introduced to superannuation at their place of work we are determined to ensure BT is the preferred provider, whether their employer provides superannuation as part of a corporate superannuation plan or as part of an award agreement. Melinda will work with BT’s core capabilities to build compelling superannuation products for those employers and employees.

“BT Super for Life is fully portable from one employer to another meaning there is no reason that any Australian worker needs multiple superannuation funds.

“Melinda Howes’ appointment will ensure a continued intense customer focus across the BT Superannuation business and a market leading understanding of the ongoing needs of our customers.”

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Kelly Power

BT has enhanced its model portfolio offer for dealer groups and advisers with the introduction of bulk linking and rebalancing.

Since launching model portfolios in 2010 BT has been working with dealer groups and advisers to create even greater efficiencies in managing their client portfolios.

Research recently commissioned by BT shows using model portfolios can significantly increase client face-to-face time. In fact, model portfolios were shown to save over 75 hours per annum on regulatory compliance and administration, time that is now spent with their clients.#

Close to seventy per cent of Australian advisers are using model portfolios, the majority of which use them because they increase efficiency and simplify the review process.*

Kelly Power, head of platforms at BT Financial Group said “I am very excited about the continued improvements we are making to BT Wrap and how advisers are embracing them.

We do not take our leading market position for granted, and we are focused on enhancing our platforms; consistently offering market leading service and customer experiences.”

Summary of new capabilities for advisers:

• Rebalance multiple clients at one time – saving administration time
• Set limits at a model portfolio level and tailor for individual clients
• Monitor account requirements for rebalancing using tolerance reporting at the model portfolio level

Summary of new capabilities for dealer groups:

• Bulk link and rebalance clients to a model portfolio on behalf of the adviser
• Choose from additional adviser permission levels
• Monitor and track rebalances
• Monitor accounts with tolerance reporting

*CoreData, research commissioned by BT Financial Group

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Megan Beer

Winners of the Financial Services Council’s prestigious Life Insurance Awards for 2014 − proudly sponsored by the BT Financial Group − were announced at a black tie function at the Sofitel hotel in Sydney last night.  

Now in their second year, the FSC Life Insurance Awards are presented to individuals and organisations in recognition of outstanding achievement in the life insurance industry.

There were six awards – three for individuals and three for organisations. They were judged by a panel of three independent experts, all who have extensive industry experience.

BT Financial Group’s Head of Life Insurance, Phil Hay, presented the awards to the 2014 winners who were:

• Industry Pioneer Award winner:  Megan Beer −  Director, Insurance, AMP;
• Leadership Award winner:  Tracey Crowe– National Manager, Underwriting, New Business and Claims, BT Financial Group;
• Young Achiever Award winner:  Rajasree Variyar – Direct Life Insurance Product Manager, ANZ Wealth;
• ‘Big Thinking’ Award winner:  Zurich Life & Investments Research Program;
• BlueChip Communication Social Media Innovation Award winner:  BT Insights −  BT Financial Group; and
• William Roberts Lawyers Consumer Innovation Award winner:  Smarter Years campaign − Asteron Life.

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BT rolls out tablets for bank planners.

BT Financial Group has started one of the largest releases of tablets to bank financial planners – to deliver advice to clients anywhere and anytime.

The release marks a revolution in the way advice is experienced and delivered.

“We are committed to helping more Australians get advice and technology has an important role to play in achieving this,” BT Financial Group general manager bank financial planning, Mike Chesworth said.

“This is an exciting development in the industry and reflects how people are using tablet technology in their everyday lives.”

As part of the release to over 500 financial planners working in Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne and Bank of South Australia, the tablets use Microsoft 8.0 and the online ‘Your World’ tool, designed for  better client conversations.

Released in a paper format last year and winner of the Australian International Design Award, ‘Your World’ helps financial advisers have better conversations with their clients by helping advisers uncover what’s important.

BT Financial Groups head of practice management, Advice Mr Wes Hall said the release of the tablets and the online version of ‘Your World’ are part of the many enhancements BT Financial Group continues to put in place to improve advice.

“Our dedicated adviser website, our moves to paperless office, and the release of a new application giving up-to-date technical information puts the customer at the centre of everything we do,” Mr Hall said.

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Brad Fox

At a black-tie premier event held at the Westin Hotel in Sydney on Wednesday night, CommInsure was named the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA)/Plan for Life (PFL) 2013 Life Company of the Year.

As well as taking the overall Platinum Award, CommInsure also won the Investment Bond award and was a finalist in the award categories of Trauma, overall Annuity Provider of the Year and Long Term Income Stream Awards.

In congratulating CommInsure, AFA CEO Brad Fox said the CommInsure brand has stood the test of time and winning the Life Company of the Year Award is admirable recognition for a business that has gone through considerable change over recent years. “CommInsure continues to demonstrate its commitment to financial advisers, adviser practices and their clients and the AFA highly commends CommInsure as the 2013 AFA Platinum Award winner.”

BT Financial Group and TAL were runners up for the Platinum Award.

Mr Fox said the range of finalists for all awards proved that the industry is continually striving to encourage more Australians to plan for the unexpected and to increase levels of protection.

“The awards process includes a thorough analysis of the life companies within Australia, ensuring the recognition of premier service and product solutions that best provide for the insurance needs of Australians and the financial advisers that service them,” he said. “We are confident that these companies have both advisers and clients at the heart of their offerings and are committed to continued development and innovation.”

Rael Solomon, Manager Marketing and Product Development at PFL said, “Life Companies continued to innovate their risk products in 2013, while at the same time paying attention to increased claim rates in product sectors such as Trauma through increases in premium rates. In the case of immediate annuities, there was an ongoing rise in the numbers of retirees turning to this product, while investment bonds are also continuing to play a role in client portfolios.”

Macquarie Life was the winner of all three client service team awards: Underwriting Team of the Year, Claims Team of the Year and Business Support Services/BDM Team of the Year.

“We introduced the three service quality awards last year in conjunction with RiskInfo and the Beddoes Institute to recognize adviser experiences in dealing with the claims, underwriting and business development teams,” Mr Fox said. “Our congratulations to Macquarie Life on a job well done – a clean sweep is a significant achievement.”

Mr Fox also singled out the Innovation Award winner AIA for special recognition, “The AFA’s theme for 2014 is Innovate: Think, Create, Act so we are very excited to see how the AIA Vitality initiative has challenged the fundamental way insurance connects with consumers. It’s a new conversation.”

The assessment for the Life Company of the Year Awards is completed in two parts. The Product Awards are based on data provided by participating companies to PFL on a quarterly basis, combined with service quality input. The Service Team Awards are the result of around 2,000 survey responses from financial advisers which are then analysed by the Beddoes Institute.

The full list of award winners and finalists appears below.

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Stella Group to help women aspire to work as financial planners.

BT Financial Group has launched a new network to help more women aspire to work as financial planners.

The Stella Network will be supported by networking opportunities, events and workshops and will provide greater insight into what it’s like to work in the financial planning industry.

BT Financial Group is the wealth management arm of the Westpac Group and oversees the financial planning businesses of Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne, Bank SA, Securitor, Licensee Select, BT Select and Magnitude.

It has a goal of doubling the number of females in its bank-aligned financial planning businesses by 2015.

Women are currently under-represented in the financial planning industry – accounting for fewer than 20% of the 16,500 financial planners in Australia.

BT Financial Group General Manager of Advice, Mark Spiers, says over the coming years Australia will see dramatic change to the face of financial planning including how Australian’s access advice and what advice they need.

“Australians need more financial advice than ever before and more planners to meet this demand. The industry needs to respond to this through more workplace flexibility, improved technology and increased professionalism to ensure we meet the financial needs of more Australians.

“Together, we need to strengthen the understanding of financial planning as a career and work to develop the employment support that is right for women.

“By better reflecting the broader diversity of the community, we hope to establish more rewarding relationships between financial planners and Australians.”

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