BT sees growth in adviser usage of managed accounts



The number of advisers using managed accounts has passed 1,000, according to BT, with funds under administration for the strategies reaching $10.7 billion.
Total funds under administration on BT Panorama were $97.3 billion, a decrease of 3.6% which BT attributed to negative markets, while net flows for the 12 months to 30 June were $3.6 billion.
On the managed account platform, funds under administration were $10.7 billion, up 31% from the prior corresponding period, with over 1,000 advisers using the strategies, a 24% rise from 833 in the previous corresponding period.
The firm said: “A significant driver of demand is the move by advice practices and their clients from BT Wrap to BT Panorama, with many choosing to switch to managed accounts options available on the more contemporary platform; this represented $1.1 billion of managed accounts FUA in the past 12 months.
“During volatile conditions, managed accounts can give investment managers the ability to execute investment decisions efficiently and respond to fluctuations in the market more quickly, at scale.
“In addition, managed accounts enable advice practices to save time, at an average of 15.7 hours a week in back-office tasks, equivalent to 100 days each year. We expect growth to continue in this space as more advisers realise the benefits of implementing managed accounts.”
Nine managed account portfolios were added to BT Panorama in the quarter and seven had a focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) which the firm said was a “key area of growth and interest”.
“BT is committed to supporting advisers to assist investors with further insights on ESG investment options and has embedded this initiative in the overall business strategy. Further information on planned development in this space will be provided in the second half of the year.”
The firm said in the upcoming quarter, changes would include TAL and AIA being added to the platform, improvements to reporting, managed portfolios to be added to adviser portfolios and Robotic Integrated Technology Administration made available to all users.
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