<table
Fiducian’s new self-managed super fund (SMSF) service has become the core of its administration platform.
The group has been operating its full SMSF service suite for the last three months as an extension of its platform administration services and, as a result of the group’s strong internal IT capabilities, that SMSF service has become the core of its administration platform, said Fiducian Portfolio Services operations manager Patrick Jackson.
Jackson said that while a few years ago Fiducian was not interested in entering the SMSF area, things have dramatically changed
“We first looked at SMSFs in 2003 and I researched the market in great depth,” he said. However, SMSFs were considered to be a too highly labour intensive accounting function that did not fit well with where Fiducian sat, Jackson said. A few things have changed since then, including Fiducian’s internal accounting capabilities and advancements in technology.
The SMSF administration system was ultimately developed to cater for accounting bookkeeping needs and the full suite of capabilities, which includes managing the compliance side of SMSFs, has been running since the start of the year.
Jackson said there has been no official launch of the SMSF service because, due to the system’s high level of flexibility, Fiducian is able to customise the service for dealer groups with varying business and remuneration models.
“The technology has given us so much flexibility to be able to do this,” Jackson said.
He said legacy platforms are a major headache for the platform industry because many cannot be adapted easily and cost effectively.
Jackson said looking ahead at further developments, Fiducian is examining ways to improve online capabilities and is also considering an individually managed account offering.
