Ms Allen is a highly experienced executive and non-executive director who spent 16 years in various senior executive roles at the RACV and oversaw the launch of new businesses and products in insurance and home services.

She has extensive governance experience as a director of companies in financial services, consumer services, logistics and distribution, as well as a wide range of skills accumulated at large organisations across those industries, infrastructure, and the public sector.

“It’s an exciting time to be joining the board of OpenInvest,” Ms Allen says.

“In the post-Financial Services Royal Commission world, the way Australian investors access professional assistance is set to change dramatically. As OpenInvest has been designed with investors’ needs in mind, I believe it’s poised to play a significant part in this change.”

Data suggests that 85% of Australians do not receive financial advice, while a recent SMSF Association report shows that more than 250,000 SMSF trustees have unmet advice needs. A significant proportion of these SMSF trustees say in surveys they want professional help with their investment portfolios.

“I believe my experience in financial services, in particular, as well as a strong focus on the use of new technologies to solve consumer problems, equips me to provide valuable input to the OpenInvest board,” Ms Allen adds.

OpenInvest, which was launched last November with SMSF trustees the primary target, offers investors a menu of highly-credible and experienced investment managers from which to choose.

Other non-executive directors are former Schroders Australia CEO Greg Cooper, former director of Countplus and principal of the accounting industry consultancy Smithink, David Smith, and the founding Managing Director of CommSec, Paul Rickard.

Co-founder and CEO of OpenInvest, Andrew Varlamos, says: “We’re delighted to have Susan join the board. Her varied experiences, especially at the RACV where she was involved in the launching of new products and services, as well as her various director roles, is exactly the skill set we need as we grow the business.”

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Andrew Varlamos

OpenInvest, the online marketplace and platform giving investors access to a diverse range of Australian and international investment managers, has added an important string to its bow with the decision by Macquarie Investment Management to join up and add its portfolios to the menu.

OpenInvest, which was launched last November with SMSF trustees the primary target, gives investors a platform from which to choose from a range of highly credible and experienced investment managers. As well as Macquarie, other managers include Schroders, Shaw and Partners, SG Hiscock and JBWere.

Co-founder and CEO of OpenInvest, Andrew Varlamos, welcomed Macquarie to the platform, saying: “The investment management industry has the expertise and experience to assist self- directed investors, and we are very happy Macquarie has joined in this exciting industry initiative.”

Greg Cooper, former CEO of Schroders Australia, who has recently joined the board of OpenInvest, adds: “The significance of OpenInvest is that it gives investors much simpler access to professional investment management assistance. Through OpenInvest, investors can get to know the investment managers, their investment processes and how they’re investing, before making a decision”.

Varlamos says: “In a post Royal Commission environment, there are even more investors who want help with their investments, but don’t know who they can trust or where they can go to find the professional assistance they need.

“In particular, SMSF trustees are very clear in saying they want professional help, but they want to remain in control, and highly value transparency and engagement.

“We have designed and built OpenInvest for these investors: we are independent and conflict-free, and offer content, engagement and choice.”

Data suggests that 85% of Australians do not receive financial advice, while a recent SMSF Association report shows that over 250,000 SMSF trustees have unmet advice needs. A significant proportion of these SMSF trustees say in surveys they want professional help with their portfolios.

For self-directed investors, the process on OpenInvest is very simple. Investors choose their preferred investment manager only when they feel ready. OpenInvest then keeps their portfolio aligned with the guidance provided by their chosen manager, whilst the manager keeps the investor fully informed and up-to-date.

Each investment manager sets their own investment fee. OpenInvest then adds its administration fee to arrive at a total management fee. There are no hidden extras for investors.

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Greg Cooper

Leading global investment manager Schroders has launched its first direct-to-consumer managed fund on the ASX, bringing its highly successful multi-asset real return strategy to a broader range of Australian investors.

The Schroder Real Return Fund (Managed Fund) ASX:GROW is based on Schroders’ successful Real Return CPI Plus 5% fund – which at 31 July 2016 had delivered a 6.4% p.a. post-fee return to investors since inception in October, 2008[1]. The fund is one of the longest running global multi-asset funds targeting real returns with low volatility for Australian investors.

GROW is the first active, global multi-asset exchange traded managed fund, that isn’t a hedge fund, made available on the ASX.

CEO of Schroder Investment Management Australia, Greg Cooper, said the move to offer the strategy via an exchanged quoted managed fund structure reflected the growing desire of many retail investors, and specifically SMSF investors, to improve portfolio diversification and boost returns – but through a preferred quoted format.

“GROW has been launched in response to investor demand for simple-to-access, diversified strategies that will deliver real returns with lower levels of risk,” Mr Cooper said. “Importantly, unlike many hedge funds with similar objectives, the fund aims to achieve its investment objective of CPI+5% p.a. (pre-fees) over rolling three years without a significant use of derivatives and no leverage.”

Low return environment driving investor changes

Simon Doyle, Head of Fixed Income and Multi-Asset for Schroders in Australia and lead manager for GROW, said investors were slowly coming to terms with the new low return environment – and the need to change their portfolios to achieve future investment outcomes.

Data from the ATO, Morningstar and Chant West shows that portfolio diversification varies widely across different Australian investor groups – with direct investors, as well as independently run SMSFs, indicating far less diversification than investors advised by financial planners, or within larger institutional (super) funds.

Mr Doyle said GROW would target brokers and accountants as well as direct investors – as the fund responds to a number of common issues faced by SMSF and higher net worth investors: the need for better diversification and therefore better protection in volatile markets; the desire for real returns in a low return environment; the need to quickly and easily adjust exposures as risk premia change; and more direct and efficient access and administration.

“The problem with many Australians’ portfolios is that with high allocations to a few listed shares and property, people have very high exposures to the same themes, very low protection from certain risks and, overall, little true diversification,” Mr Doyle said.

“With historically low interest rates around the world, investors need to make some changes – so they can be far more dynamic in their management of asset allocation and ensure they have much better diversification of both risk and return. GROW provides all of this in a simple, packaged solution and without the use of complex derivatives or leverage.”

GROW has a low minimum investment hurdle which means investors can now access a diversified active portfolio of assets with less than $1,000 to invest.

Schroders currently runs around $8.0 billion on behalf of both institutional and intermediary clients in real return or objective-based strategies.

The flagship Schroder Real Return CPI Plus 5% fund continues to be rated highly by independent research houses in Australia. Schroders was also named the Best Multi-Asset Real Return Manager at the 2015 Professional Planner / Zenith Awards, and are a finalist in the upcoming 2016 awards later this year. In 2015 Schroders was also named Multi-Asset Manager of the Year UK, at the Global Investor Investment Excellence Awards.

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Brett Clark

Brett Clark, Group CEO and Managing Director of TAL has been elected to the board of the Financial Services Council.

“Brett brings a deep understanding of financial services to the FSC Board which spans 20 years and covers life insurance, wealth management and consulting,” said FSC chairman, Greg Cooper.

He also co-chairs the FSC’s Life Board Committee.

Prior to his current role at TAL, Mr Clark was responsible for running TAL Life Australia and TAL Retail Life and previously held senior positions with American International Assurance (AIA) Australia.

He is also a director of TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia Pty Limited, TAL Life Limited and TAL Superannuation Limited.

Brett holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne; is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries Australia; and is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Program.

The FSC Board now comprises:

• Chairman: Greg Cooper – CEO, Schroder Investment Management Australia Limited
• Co Deputy Chairman: Brad Cooper – CEO, BT Financial Group;
• Co Deputy Chairman: Geoff Lloyd –CEO and MD, Perpetual Limited;

Directors:

• Brian Benari – MD and CEO of Challenger Limited;
• Pauline Blight-Johnston − Group Executive of Insurance and Superannuation, AMP;
• David Bryant − CEO & CIO of Australian Unity Investments;
• Robin Burns – MD, Equity Trustees Limited;
• Brett Clark ̶ Group CEO and Managing Director of TAL;
• Lochiel Crafter − Head of Asia Pacific, State Street Global Advisors;
• Andrew Hagger – Group Executive, NAB Wealth and CEO MLC Limited;
• Brett Jollie – MD, Aberdeen Asset Management Australia Limited;
• Damien Mu −CEO of AIA Australia Limited;
• Annabel Spring – Group Executive, Wealth Management, Commonwealth Bank of Australia;

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Greg Cooper

Australia needs to significantly grow its financial services export industry over the next decade to ensure future employment and economic growth,  Greg Cooper, CEO of Schroder Investment Management Australia and chairman of the Financial Services Council said yesterday.

In his opening speech to the FSC’s annual conference in Cairns, Mr Cooper said: “Selling financial services to individuals or companies outside Australia is as much an export as selling iron or ore coal.”

“Financial services is no longer an industry that is seen just as a facilitator of growth in other sectors or as an industry to be regulated,” he said.

“This is recognised by the Murray Review which is the first inquiry into Australia’s financial system to consider financial services an industry that generates economic and employment growth in its own right.”

Mr Cooper also said: “Australia has the third largest pool of funds in the world at $2.3 trillion. As a result our funds management industry is large, highly developed and highly skilled.

“There is a tremendous opportunity to build upon our comparative advantage in this sector.”

“If Australia can increase its funds management exports to the same level as Hong Kong by 2023/24, the flow on effects will be significant.”

“As a result, GDP would increase by $4.2 billion by 2029-30 and around 10,000 additional jobs would be created.”

“There would also be significant flow on effects. Fees received by fund managers would lead to an increase in income and payroll tax and an increase in funds management exports would lead to a net increase in the amount of foreign assets invested in Australia,” he said.

The income generated by these assets would steadily increase tax revenue for the Australian Government.

“The Deloitte modelling shows the government would receive an additional $1.7 billion in tax revenue in 2024-25 which would stabilise to $1.2 billion in 2029-30 if Australian funds under management were increased to Hong Kong levels.”

These were some of the revelations in new research for the FSC by Deloitte Access Economics released at the FSC conference.

“The report shows around 3.5 per cent of funds under management in Australia are sourced offshore compared with 80 per cent in Singapore, and 65 per cent in Hong Kong,” Mr Cooper said.

“This is low compared to other leading financial centres.”

“It is clear from this research that a lack of coordination in international integration to increase the push to increase financial services exports has left Australia significantly lagging behind other countries.”

Mr Cooper also said: “Australia urgently requires a coordination body to be established to progress international financial integration and to promote Australian financial services in the Asia Region.”

“The City of London and the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council provide templates which Australia can draw upon,” he said.

“The body should be resourced by government and must have power in legislation to deal with tax and regulatory issues affecting the industry.”

“And, for the body to be effective if must also have advisory representatives from industry and be housed in the Treasury portfolio,” Mr Cooper Said.

———-

The Financial Services Council’s annual conference is being held at the Cairns Convention Centre from 6 to 8 August. Further details can be accessed at: http://fsc.org.au/events/fsc-annual-conference-2014-accelerate/home.aspx

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John Brogden

Chairman of the Financial Services Council (FSC), Greg Cooper, announced last Friday that John Brogden will be stepping down as CEO of the FSC at the end of the year to take up a new role as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

FSC Chairman Greg Cooper said: “John has been a tremendous asset to the financial services industry and the FSC over the past five years as CEO of IFSA and the FSC.”

“He has significantly boosted the reputation and profile of the FSC and the industry, expanded its policy agenda to influence broader economic policy, and extended FSC membership to include trustee companies and public trustees.”

“Ensuring bipartisan support for no significant changes to superannuation and creating a financial services trade agenda for Australia – particularly on the Asian Region Funds Passport − are among the many things that John will leave in his legacy,” Mr Cooper said.

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Greg Cooper

The Coalition’s financial services policies will deliver certainty and stability to Australian retirees that their superannuation will not be tinkered with, Greg Cooper, chairman of the Financial Services council and CEO of Schroders Australia said today.

Speaking at the FSC’s Annual Conference, Mr Cooper said: “As the second biggest financial asset for most Australians after the family home, stability in superannuation policy settings is essential.”

“We welcome the Coalition’s ‘no adverse changes’ commitment. This announcement, along with the Treasurer’s yesterday, will remove super from the annual Budget night uncertainty.”

“Lifting super from the annual uncertainty cycle is an outcome the wider superannuation industry supports,” Mr Cooper said.

He also thanked Senator Mathias Cormann, Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, for his significant contribution to Australia’s financial services industry since his appointment in 2010.

“As a result of Senator Cormann’s leadership and heavy lifting, the Coalition has a set of well-developed policies in financial services,” Mr Cooper said.

“The FSC has been very supportive of the Coalition’s stated policy commitments including the continued development of Australia as a financial centre, substantial refinements of the Future of Financial Advice and Stronger Super reforms, introducing true competition in default superannuation; and commitment to no adverse changes to superannuation in the next Parliament.”

“But it’s not the industry that will ultimately be most grateful, it will be the retirees of the future that will derive the full benefit from this new consensus on super policy,” he said.

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Greg Cooper

Greg Cooper, CEO of Schroders Australia, has been elected chairman of the Financial Services Council.

He was unanimously elected to the position by the FSC board and will officially take on the role of chairman on Thursday, 1 August during the FSC’s Annual Conference. Mr Cooper will replace Peter Maher who will retire as chairman of the FSC board today.

“I am pleased to announce that Greg will assume the role of chairman of the FSC,” Mr Maher said.

“Greg has made a significant contribution to the FSC since he became a director in 2008.”

“He has been deputy chairman of the FSC since 2011, deputy chairman of the FSC’s Administration & Risk Board Committee, deputy chairman of the FSC’s Nominations Board Committee and co-chairman the FSC’s Investment Board Committee,” Mr Maher said.

A trained actuary, Mr Cooper commenced his investment career in 1992 and has worked in Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and is Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

Mr Cooper thanked Peter Maher for his substantial contribution to the FSC and to Australia’s financial services industry.

“Peter’s guidance and support of the Financial Services Council has been critical during this time of the most substantial regulatory change in the history of Financial Services Industry in Australia,” he said.

“Agreement to increase compulsory superannuation contributions from nine to 12 per cent; the commissioning of the Johnson Review into Australia as a regional Financial Services hub; industry self-regulation to improve financial services for consumers; the abolition of commissions through the FSC’s standards; and, the broadening of representation and work within the FSC to cover the full value chain including financial advice networks and trustee companies, are some of the key industry achievements the FSC has led while Peter has been on the Board.”

Mr Maher was elected to the FSC Board in 2004 and became chairman in 2010.

He also served as chairman of the FSC’s Administration & Risk Board Committee and chairman of the FSC’s Nominations Board Committee.

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