In its latest annual platform report, Investment Trends has revealed which investment platform took the top spot for functionality, as HUB24 and Netwealth vie for first place.
The Investment Trends 2023 Platform Benchmarking Report, now in its 20th year, saw HUB24 take the top spot for overall platform functionality with a score of 92.6 per cent.
This was the second year in a row that HUB24 came out on top, with the platform scoring 91.5 per cent the year prior.
Netwealth narrowly came in second position for 2023, scoring 92.1 per cent for functionality. Despite losing the top spot for two years now, Netwealth came in first on the 2021 report.
In August 2023, the Adviser Ratings’ Musical Chairs Report for the second quarter of 2023 pinpointed HUB24, Netwealth and CFS FirstChoice as the top three platforms based on advisers’ experiences.
Investment Trends saw Praemium come in third place at 90 per cent, followed by BT Panorama at 86.2 per cent and Mason Stevens at 84.3 per cent. Evidently, the top five ranking remained the same as the previous year.
“All platforms have again delivered a significant scope of new functionality over the last 12 months. AMP North registered the largest increase in score, with a significant range of enhancements delivered across several areas,” the report identified.
Most recently, AMP North added six actively managed portfolios to its menu alongside a socially responsible fund, bringing its wider menu to a total of 111 portfolios.
Investment Trends also recognised CFS Edge as a new player in the platform space, which was first launched in August 2023. This highlighted the “current competitive and innovative features available in the market”.
For the first time in 2023, the research firm introduced a new assessment category for retirement solutions to reflect the urgency shown by regulators and policymakers.
“It was rather evident in our review that all platforms have sharpened their focus on this important area, with their holistic approach encompassing product, calculators, claims processing and education,” said Paul McGivern, director at Investment Trends.
Managed accounts featured again as a key focus area of development as platforms looked to expand their offerings to further assist financial advisers.
McGivern continued: “We have witnessed in 2023 a sharp contrast between the UK and Australia when it comes to net flows into platforms. We can’t help but attribute – at least in part – the strong performance of Australian platforms to the agility in identifying the growing demand for the asset class and the timely solutions deployed to address it.”
In addition to managed accounts, educational resources for advisers as well as cyber security enhancements were other key areas of development.
