The St George Bank owned Asgard group has revamped its eWrap platform in a bid to boost its appeal to financial planners at a time when advisers are increasingly likely to shop around for the best platform deals.
Research released by Assirt Research, also owned by St George, shows the number of financial planners prepared to use three or more platforms has more than doubled from 19 per cent to 41 per cent over the past twelve months – a signal that platform providers will have to work harder to ensure advisers stay loyal.
The enhancements to the eWrap include a new templating facility, cash access and the opening of the product for investment by overseas residents, enabling investors to maintain their investments within Australia while working abroad.
The templating functionality will allow advisers to ‘batch’ portfolios, and make recommendations to a group of investors about their underlying investments.
The wrap platform’s clients will also be offered access to their cash position through the integration of the Asgard’s Cash Connect.
With Cash Connect, investors are able to use the ATM and branch network of the St George bank to access their funds.
Sealcorp chief executive officer Geoff Lloyd says cash is an important defensive strategy for many retirees and asset accumulators, with almost $1.5 billion of the $17 billion in the platform invested in cash or equivalent assets.
“Cash is at the centre of any platform facility,” he says.
Lloyd says further enhancements to the eWrap platform and its cash products are expected in 2005.
The enhancements follow the acquisition of a string of new business by eWrap, which picked up Aon Australia as a new client late last month.
Other groups to pick up the platform in recent months include CPS Credit Union, Snowball Financial Services, and AMP groups Hillross and AMP Financial Planning.
In the 2004 Assirt Research Service Level Awards, the eWrap platform finished equal third along with Count’s wealth-e-account out of a field of 17 platforms ranked by 765 financial planners.
