Macquarie Bank have joined the growing list of online service providers adding man-aged funds to its product list, and is in talks to provide online advice.
Macquarie Bank have joined the growing list of online service providers adding man-aged funds to its product list, and is in talks to provide online advice.
Income linked securities manager Craig Ellis says at present the site, IncomeIn-vest.com.au, offers access to debentures and a select group of managed funds which include products from BT, Macquarie and County Direct. The funds will be available to registered users by down loading a prospectus from the relevant site.
According to Ellis the bank is also in talks with its financial planning division about providing online advice and information.
“We are looking to create relationships with financial advisers as well as provide re-search advice that their clients might need,” Ellis says.
Ellis says there is nothing worse than a client not understanding what a planner is talking about and says with the help of the planners, the site will provide clients with enough information for them to educate themselves in the office or at home.
“Clients can learn the basics and become more investment savvy in their own time, and it improves their level of understanding. We want to make it as unthreatening as possible so clients can invest like a professional,” Ellis says.
The site is designed to educate retail clients, Ellis says, in the areas of asset allocation, portfolio diversification, and risk management.
He says it is an educational product that also provides access to all Macquarie’s prod-ucts including equities, listed products, debentures and fixed interest.
“We’re not saying take money out of the stock market, we’re saying get the money that is sitting in your back account, get it out there and get it to do some work some-where,” he says.
“Why let it sit there and rot away. Kick it out of bed, get it doing some work for you.”
The site was launched in February of this year and also features an interactive risk profile designed to enable investors to get an idea of what may be appropriate for their financial situation.
The site also gives retail investors full trading access to Government and semi-Government bonds.
