Planners rate value of platforms
Advisers rated the support they received from platform providers higher than they rated the support they received from dealer groups, industry associations or regulators during the global financial crisis (GFC), according to new research released this week.
The research, released by superannuation and investment platform provider, Wealthtrac, showed that 85 per cent of independent financial advisers covered by the survey found the support from their platform to be either excellent (16 per cent), good (21 per cent) or neutral (47 per cent), compared to 58 per cent in the same band for dealer groups, 44 per cent for industry associations and just 15 per cent for regulators.
Commenting on the survey data, Wealthtrac managing director, Matthew Johnson said the areas highlighted, as being valued by advisers in the survey was communications with regard to frozen funds.
He said that he believed most planner businesses would be able to recover from the GFC because while 60 per cent of advisers said that most of their clients had lost money, 50 per cent said they had actually gained new clients during the period.
“I believe that this shows that Australian investors still understand the value of good advice and that they have not turned their backs on the advisor model,” Johnson said. “However many advisers have changed some features of their business as a result of the GFC.”
He said survey responses indicated advisers were now more conservative with portfolio construction, more cautious with growth investors and were offering additional cash investment in their portfolios.
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