SMA seeks direct access to planners
Separatelymanaged account (SMA) provider Direct Portfolio will move beyond its direct investor approach and seek financial planners who are willing to use the product with their clients.
Direct Portfolio executive director John Aldersley says the group has offered its SMA direct to retail clients for eight years but is willing to offer it to dealer groups.
He says those groups which bring in more than $20 million would be offered their own choice of managers, while those with larger amounts would be given the provision to create their own investment mandates in the areas of fixed interest, listed property and international equities.
Aldersley says Direct Portfolio is also considering badging the SMA service for dealer groups and would encourage master trusts to consider it as part of their equity exposure.
“We see these as natural moves for us as well as for dealer groups, especially boutiques, who want to control their own destiny and can present this to clients as a customised package,” Aldersley says.
As part of boosting the attractiveness of the Direct Portfolio SMA, Adlersley plans to add two external managers who would cover stocks in the ASX25 range and the ASX50 range, to sit alongside the internal management undertaken by Direct Portfolio.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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