In its tenth year, the May 2013 Planner Technology Report is an in-depth study of Australian financial planners and their technology needs. The study is based on a survey of 1,141 financial planners concluded in May 2013.

“At an industry level, planners’ satisfaction with their most-used platform increased for each of the 27 different areas that we measure,” said Investment Trends Senior Analyst Recep Peker. “Following last year’s record satisfaction, these increases have resulted in planners’ overall satisfaction with their platforms reaching the highest level we’ve seen in the ten years of this study.”

While platform providers have made many new enhancements in the last 12 months, the new lower-cost and flexible pricing models have been the most successful in driving planners’ satisfaction.

“netwealth had the largest increase in overall satisfaction, taking the top spot among platforms,” said Peker. “Planners interviewed were especially happy with its new low-cost Super Accelerator solution, with a number also citing international share trading and the availability of multiple insurance providers.”

The top three platforms by planner satisfaction were:

1. netwealth
2. Macquarie Wrap
3. CFS FirstChoice

“We find there’s a strong link between platform satisfaction and switching behaviour, and the most recent trends saw planners’ loyalty to their platforms reach a high point,” said Peker. “Only 19% said they would change any of the platforms they use if it were up to them, compared to a high of 32% saying so as recently as in 2008.”

Usability is the next frontier for platforms to address

As platforms address the gaps in pricing, the landscape of how platforms can help planners has changed.

“Especially for the past few years, the number one improvement planners have asked from platforms was more competitive pricing,” said Peker. “However, with the introduction of lower-cost solutions, planners now want platform providers to help with online usability, for improved business efficiency, better client reporting and review tools, which is mostly FoFA driven, and better adviser support.”

Westpac holds over a quarter of primary platform relationships

Westpac is the largest platform provider by primary planner relationships, with the proportion using a Westpac platform the most for new inflows increasing from 10% ten years ago to 26% as of May 2013. Westpac is followed by CBA which holds 19% of primary relationships, up from 9% in 2004.

On an individual platform level, CFS FirstChoice and BT Wrap are still the most-used platforms, followed by North and Asgard Infinity eWRAP, both of which achieved substantial increases to the number of primary relationships from 2012.

The four largest platforms by number of primary relationships were:

1. CFS FirstChoice
2. BT Wrap
3. North
4. Asgard Infinity eWRAP

Primary and secondary platform relationships now and ten years ago

The platform market has gone through significant consolidation over the last 10 years:

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Key features include:

• The introduction of family fee aggregation (FFA), allowing up to four family members to take advantage of lower fees by combining account balances.  FFA is available for spouses, including de facto and same sex, parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren.
• An upgrade of the technology infrastructure that supports the platform, providing a significant increase in capacity to support future growth in North transactions.  Early results show a 20% improvement in the average response time across all North Online transactions.
• The ability to generate up-to-the-minute online notifications to keep clients and advisers updated on the dividend and distribution dates of each fund on North’s investment menu.
• A range of additional administrative enhancements to improve account management functionality for both clients and advisers.

New branding has been rolled out across all North’s communications, collateral and online sites – this forms part of AMP’s commitment to remove the AXA brand from the Australian and New Zealand markets by March 2013. 

AMP Director Platforms Steve Burgess said the developments were part of AMP’s ongoing commitment to build on the strength of North as a full-service wrap platform.  

“North has surpassed $3.7 billion in funds under administration and adviser interest has been strong over the last 12 months. 

“These enhancements ensure the platform is quicker and easier to do business with, improving the experience for advisers and clients.” 

North will continue to offer an administration fee rebate for new or rolled over term deposits until the end of the year for those looking to the safety of cash as part of their investment allocation. 

Clients have the flexibility to choose term deposits from four leading Australian banks, including AMP Bank, Adelaide Bank, ANZ and Westpac. 

North is a complete product and platform offer that gives investors access to a range of quality investments including over 230 managed funds, online direct share trading, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded commodities (ETCs).

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The administration fee rebate will apply to all clients who take out a new North term deposit or roll over a maturing term deposit between 1 August and 31 December 2012. 

AMP’s Director Platforms Steve Burgess said while it was important for people to have a balanced portfolio, recent market volatility has seen some investors look to cash as a safe haven. 

“We are pleased to be able to offer new and existing North clients a fee rebate. In the current environment an allocation to cash is an attractive option for some clients to help them achieve their long term savings goals,” Mr Burgess said. 

“North has seen strong growth in term deposit funds under administration over the past year, jumping from 1.3 per cent to 6.9 per cent of total North FUA between June 2011 and June 2012.”

North term deposits are offered across its entire suite of non-guaranteed super, pension and ordinary money accounts and clients have the flexibility to choose from four leading Australian banks, including AMP Bank, Adelaide Bank, ANZ and Westpac.

North is a complete product and platform offer that gives investors access to a range of quality investments including multi-manager funds, managed funds, online direct share trading, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded commodities (ETCs). 

The administration fee rebate applies for the duration of the term deposit or up to 31 December 2013.

31 July 2012

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