FirstChoice to offer wholesale pricing
Colonial First State(CFS) will offer wholesale pricing on its investment platform FirstChoice with an average total fee of 1 per cent.
The new pricing will be offered through FirstChoice Wholesale and includes the administration and manager expense ratio (MER), with no entry or exit fees and the exclusion of any advice fees.
The cheapest price on the platform will be 0.3 per cent for fixed interest products up to 1.2 per cent for international equities, with the minimum investment in the new platform offering set at $100,000.
The new wholesale pricing will be available from July 12, with investments, superannuation and pension products all available under the new structure.
CFS chief executive John Pearce says the wholesale structure will replicate that of the retail priced version but the institutional version will have slightly more options, including a number of CFS's own wholesale products.
Advice fees relating to platform use will be charged separately and agreed upon by the adviser and client, however, Pearce says there is a function for advisers to levy any charges through the platform.
According to CFS head of product Brian Bissaker, advisers can also use the wholesale offering as a self-managed superannuation fund vehicle through the superannuation component or as an underlying investment mechanism in an existing structure.
Pearce says while the move extends the range of FirstChoice, the underlying investment list would not expand dramatically in an effort to ensure CFS can offer the service and standards it currently has available.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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