The inclusion of managed accounts onto approved products lists (APLs) had been an impediment to financial planners wanting to use the product but there is now a shift, according to Investment Trends.
Chief executive, Michael Blomfield, said it has been a slow and onerous process to convince various parties to approve these products for use by practices and financial planners.
“A financial planner might love managed accounts but if a practice hasn’t approved them for distribution to the client base, well, it’s just not going to happen,” Blomfield said.
“And because it’s been such a slow and long build in managed accounts, I think there were a bunch of product committees and planning houses who have kind of sat back a little and needed to be more convinced in this case perhaps than in some others.”
However there now a “big movement”, with managed account products now gradually finding a place on APLs at present, which has led to more planners using them.
The 2017 NAB/Investment Trends Planner Direct Equities and Managed Accounts Report found the proportion of financial planners who recommended direct shares fell for the third consecutive year, with 50 per cent of the 474 planners surveyed using them, down from 55 per cent in 2016 and 56 per cent in 2015.
The appetite for managed accounts has increased, with 26 per cent of planners using them and intending to continue to use them in 2016, compared to 22 per cent in 2016 and 20 per cent in 2015.
