Skandia to enter Oz market
Swedish investment and insurance giant, Skandia, has announced an intention to enter the Australian retail savings market and will shortly establish its headquarters in Sydney.
Skandia's regional manager Asia Pacific, Johan Hofvander, says the company's Australian operation will be up and running next year.
"It's a bit early to put an exact date on the start-up but it will be some time next year," Hofvander says.
"We're currently looking for staff but a lot of the structure is already in place, for example our IT platforms, internet capabilities and underlying fund structure."
Hofvander says Skandia's main focus will be on the retail investment business, distributing its products through independent financial advisers.
"We have done extensive analysis of the Australian market over the last two years in preparation for this commitment. We intend offering global investment opportunities specifically targeted to relationships that we have already formed in Australia and to the Australian market in general," Hofvander says.
While he admits the Skandia name is not well known in Australia, Hofvander says he is confident the strategy the company has adopted will be successful in meeting its targets.
"We haven't promoted the Skandia brand but have worked on gaining the trust of financial advisers," Hofvander says.
"There's been some good, honest feedback from the Australian advisers I've spoken to. As the trend to global investing continues many of the advisers have told me they don't know where to turn to for packaged solutions."
He says Skandia plan to fill this niche and will exploit its IT and internet adviser tools developed in other markets.
"Our marketing advantage will be our innovative technology which we source from the countries in which we operate," Hofvander says.
"We will also bring a depth of investment know-how from our international fund management partners who are the best in each asset class."
Skandia has $65 billion in funds under management in the US and is the second largest Swedish company on the Stockholm stock exchange.
AUTHOR
David Chaplin
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