Colonial is to slash its retail product range as part of the rationalisation following the mergers with Legal & General and Prudential.
The range is to be reduced from 65 to 25 products focussing on allocated pensions, master trusts and unit trusts. The new range will be unveiled in May at regional launches.
Colonial Australian Financial Services general manager marketing Marc Mengler says most of the products will have First State fund managers as a key option and they will be competitive on pricing.
“At the same time we will launch a point-of-sale software system which is an add-on service for our distributors,” he says.
The Internet will play an increased role in retail distribution with access for both advisers and clients, Mengler adds.
The rationalisation is being driven by chief executive officer Peter Smedley’s push to get greater costs savings out of the merged operations.
According to Smedley the cost-to-income ratio in the last quarter of the financial year was running at less than 52 per cent and it is understood he is looking to bring this down further by a couple of per cent before the end of the financial year.
