Assirt to recognise wrap flows

Researchhouse Assirt is preparing to make sweeping changes to the way it measures managed fund inflows, in an effort to more closely track the burgeoning flow of funds into the increasingly popular wrap account sector.

The changes, to be incorporated into Assirt’s quarterly Market Share Report, will create a new category devoted specifically to wrap account platform providers in the quarterly measure of the managed funds sector.

The new category will track the flow of funds into wrap providers through their own headline wrap products, as well as through wrap products badged by other providers — so-called ‘white label’ products.

The move by Assirt comes after a significant lobbying effort by groups like BT Funds Management and Macquarie, who argued the mushrooming wrap account sector was being under-represented in official measures of the managed funds sector.

The new measure, to be included in Assirt’s June quarter Market Share Report, will create what is expected to be a new $20 billion sub-sector in the managed funds industry, formally recognising one of the fastest growing segments of investment management.

Assirt’s market share reports have previously made references to the flow of funds into wrap accounts, but the figures have not been included in the official measurement of discretionary master fund assets.

Assirt is also in the early stages of developing a separate category to its Market Share Report that will establish what proportion of the money invested into master trusts and wrap platforms ends up with each underlying fund manager.

Serhan says the new category will measure which managers are winning the battle of distribution through master trusts and wrap accounts.