Platforms in Pursuit of IOOF

IOOF’s Pursuit platform has broken the dominance enjoyed by Colonial First State in the highly valued Wealth Insights Platform Service Level Survey.

Pursuit emerged as the leader in terms of platform service levels, breaking a two-year run by Colonial First State (CFS), which had to be content with being named the leader in terms of fund manager service levels for a third year in succession.

The Wealth Insights Service Level Survey is designed to provide an industry standard measure of financial adviser satisfaction with service levels. Commenting on the outcome of the annual survey, Wealth Insights managing director Vanessa McMahon said that while Pursuit had displaced CFS, it was more a product of generally rising standards than any diminution in quality on the part of the CFS offering.

“Platform pricing is converging,” she said.

A key element that may have differentiated the Pursuit platform was its competitive pricing model, with the IOOF product offering a capped fee structure — something which McMahon believed might have been influential.

“Planners perceive that the product offering is converging and the key way for platforms to differentiate themselves now is around their service offering,” she said.

IOOF confirmed account balances greater than $500,000 were capped and there was a tiered fee structure up to that amount. It also said that up to four accounts from family members (or same sex couples) could be aggregated to qualify for the cap.

The other top-rated platforms with respect to service levels were Macquarie Wrap and Navigator, while Fidelity and Perpetual were the top fund manager service level finalists behind CFS.

Drilling down on the reasons planners gave for preferring the Pursuit platform, McMahon said that its personalised service had been rated highly along with proactive follow-ups and a solid back-office.

IOOF managing director Chris Kelaher welcomed the Pursuit platform’s emergence at the top of the Wealth Insights survey.

“To win this award, particularly at a time when IOOF is in the midst of an integration after the merger with Australian Wealth Management and purchase of Skandia, is fantastic,” he said. “This win is an absolute credit to the team at IOOF.”

Despite the CFS platform being displaced from its leadership position, Colonial First State chief executive Brian Bissaker said he was delighted the company had won the fund management category for a third year in a row.

“Funds management is our heritage and this is a reflection of not only our investment performance but the levels of service we provide,” he said.