NAFM sales on the rise

National Australia Financial Management (NAFM) has reported a 34 per cent increase in sales to $500 million for the December quarter.

National Australia Financial Management (NAFM) has reported a 34 per cent increase in sales to $500 million for the December quarter.

NAFM managing director Elizabeth Lomas says growth had come from all areas, with investment and superannuation products reporting strong growth.

“Investment products sales were up 44 per cent to $197 million and superannuation up 14 per cent to $156 million,” she says. “We are now getting between 25 and 30 per cent of our superannuation business from the external market.”

The strongest growth area was life insurance which reported a 72 per cent increase in sales to $17 million. This growth has come through the bank’s own network of advisers as the products are not available to independent financial advisers.

With the strong growth in all product areas, Lomas says the bank is looking to strengthen both its own internal term of advisers and external links.

“We will be putting more effort into the external market to enhance opportunities and we will get a broader spread of clients through our master trust products,” she says.

NAFM’s profit for the December quarter was $19.6 million, compared to $15 million in the corresponding period. This was driven by the increased sales and growth in retail funds under management to $7.2 billion.

The National’s two fund managers — National Australia Asset Management (NAAM) and County — reported increases in funds under management. The NAAM figure was up 13.7 per cent to $9.4 billion while County reported a smaller increase to $12.2 billion. Profits were $0.8 million from NAAM and $0.4 million from County.

NAAM has reported 13 new clients which bought in $133.4 million in the December quarter while County experienced fund inflows from the numerous master trusts where it is listed.