Advice firm launches online investing solution targeting accessibility gap

Brisbane-based advice and accounting firm Hudson Financial Planning has launched Hudson Invest, an online investing solution designed to address Australia’s ongoing advice gap.

On the back of the royal commission, increased regulatory and operating costs, alongside a shrunken adviser population, have driven up the cost of professional financial advice and left many Australians unable to access these services.

In response, Hudson has launched this online solution, underpinned by Melbourne-based investment platform OpenInvest, targeting those who have been priced out of advice.

According to the firm, Hudson Invest offers users simple online access to three multi-asset investment portfolios, all of which are professionally managed by the firm’s team. Each portfolio has its own mandate, it explained, designed to allow investors to select the portfolio that best suits their needs and objectives.

Hudson managed director Juanita Wrenn said the decision to launch this online solution was driven by the desire to help more Australians capture the benefits of professional investing, while also creating a pathway to help the firm seize the intergenerational wealth transfer opportunity.

“With advances in technology, we are now also able to offer this opportunity to the broader market of unadvised Australians via a simple 5-minute sign-up process and no advice fees,” Wrenn said.

“By actively seeking to reach and serve the next generation of HNWs, those who will be the beneficiaries of inheritance and/or ‘HENRYs - High Earners Not Rich Yet - now, we can develop long-term, trusted relationships with the ideal clients of tomorrow in which we can highlight the many strengths of our firm and people, in a scalable and efficient way.”

Utilising the capabilities of OpenInvest, Hudson chief financial officer Kris Wrenn suggested that the digital solution allows the firm to service a broader client base, including those with more basic advice needs.

“While financial planning has always been a relationship business, that doesn’t mean firms must only offer a single one-size-fits-all service. Not everyone is ready for or wants the traditional personal advice service,” he said.

“Working with OpenInvest means we can now reach and serve new audiences and nurture the next generation of HNW clients. And it empowers us to compete against the ambitious digital-first platforms that are aggressively targeting the HNWs of the future."

OpenInvest head of distribution Ravi Verma said Hudson Invest will allow the firm to form relationships with clients that could make it easier to transition them into full-service clients down the road, giving them a competitive edge over others in the market.

Verma added: “Tech-savvy planning firms like Hudson Financial are very aware that advances in AI and changes in how younger generation are using technology mean that well-funded digital-first providers are going to be increasingly serious competition, and hence it makes strategic sense for them to be pro-active in addressing this by launching their own online proposition."

Earlier this year, OpenInvest also partnered with private capital investment firm FinCap to help launch its private managed accounts platform with the support of a strategic investment from Pinnacle Investment Management.  

Targeting Australian advisers and their wholesale clients, the platform was designed to deliver institutional-quality access to private market investments, including private equity, private credit and real assets, via a managed account structure.