Mercer targets high net worths
Mercer is seeing high demand from advisers for it to research new fund managers and bring new overseas investment ideas into Australia to lure high net worth clients with a unique investment offering.
Financial planners going after new high net worth clients are looking for previously unheard-of investment managers to offer something different to their rivals, according to Mercer head of wealth management Brian Long.
He said dealer groups who are looking to scale their business to find profits aren't interested in that approach because they are focused on producing quality advice in an expensive environment. However those practices which are focusing only on high net worth clients to remain profitable are using this approach to attract new clients to build up their client base, Long said.
Private banks were also taking this approach, he said.
The approach is also part of a push from licensees to find new opportunities for their clients, according to Long.
There is an increase in strategic thinking around portfolio construction and more demand for dynamic asset allocation for those high net worth clients, he added.
Advisers were approaching Mercer to get an idea of what new ideas there were in institutional investment so they could be brought into retail, he said.
"That's a practical issue because the access to those ideas lags in the retail world," Long said.
Mercer researches 24,000 strategies throughout the world.
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