Netwealth and HUB 24 have again emerged at the top of the ranking in the latest Investment Trends Platform Benchmarking and Competitive Analysis Report.
The report, released today, revealed Netwealth had taken top spot, followed by HUB 24, BT Panorama, OneVue and CFS FirstWrap.
Discussing the outcome of the report, Investment Trends senior analyst, King Loong Choi said it suggested the platform industry was driving forward in innovation and development of new functionality despite regulatory headwinds.
“Many platforms have lifted their game to help financial advisers improve efficiencies in their practice,” he said.
Choi said many improvements had been made with the goal of helping advisers reduce their admin burden while lifting client engagement levels at the same time.
He said notable developments in 2018 ranged from improved cash management tools to client portal enhancements.
The research also confirmed that financial advisers’ use of managed accounts had increased for the seventh consecutive year, with 35 per cent now recommending the solutions to their clients, up from 16 per cent in 2012 with a major contributor being the rising number of platforms that provided access to managed account functionality.
“The availability of managed accounts on platforms is increasingly prevalent with 16 platforms now providing these solutions,” Choi said “This comes with CFS FirstWrap, North and IOOF Pursuit joining the ranks in 2018.”
“With more advisers and licensees running managed accounts, it is increasingly important for platforms to provide users with access to a dedicated model manager portal,” said Choi. “While many managed accounts platforms do provide model managers with access to a dedicated model manager portal, there is scope to improve the breadth and depth of functionality and reporting without sacrificing usability.”
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