Perpetual sets sights on retail platform launch
PerpetualInvestmentshas flagged the launch of a new multi-manager retail platform, to compete with the likes ofColonial First State’s FirstChoice product.
To be launched in the last quarter of this year, the platform will offer in the vicinity of 50 superannuation and unit trust fund options, including some multi-manager offerings.It will also target mostly independent financial advisers.
Perpetual Investments group executive Gerard Doherty says the platform will include the specific requirements identified by these independent advisers over a three month period of research conducted by Perpetual.
Doherty says Perpetual has “a number of things up its sleeve” that will see the platform differentiate itself from its competitors in the market, and that he expects the fee structure to be competitive.
He says that retail investors with smaller balances, who have traditionally found master trusts too expensive and have been electing for a range of single retail products, will find this cheaper platform attractive.
Perpetual Investments would have liked to bring the product to market earlier, according to Doherty, but first had to overhaul its unit registry system, which was done with Composer software over the past 12 months.
Perpetual’s research shows that demand among advisers for this type of retail offering is still strong, leading to its decision to develop and launch the product.
Perpetual’s position as an independent group, not being part of a large institution with a large dealer force, was seen as an attraction in the feedback received from independent financial advisers, according to Doherty.
“We believe our independent position in the Australian financial services market will enable us to develop a product that offers advisers and their clients greater flexibility,” Doherty says.
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