Platform and tech boosts Bell results
Bell Financial Group has reported a pre-tax profit of $23.5 million and a 7% increase in revenue to $129 million in the first half of 2020.
In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), the firm said funds under advice were down 7% on the first half of 2019 to $54.4 billion.
Financial advisory arm Bell Potter had 325 financial advisers servicing 500,000 retail, wholesale and institutional client accounts with $54.2 million in gross brokerage revenue, up 17%.
The firm said it continued to invest in its platform and technology which resulted in platform and technology revenue increasing by 42% to $12.2 million.
Technology included Fusion, a desktop application covering areas such as compliance, research, markets, lending and workflow as well as a third party clearing platform.
“This initiative is a significant component of our ongoing business development with increased leverage to technology producing better outcomes for our staff and clients,” the firm said in the statement.
Executive chair, Alastair Provan, said: “Given the circumstances we have found ourselves in over the past few months, it is very pleasing to be in a position to report such a strong half-year result. Both our retail and wholesale broking divisions performed well and our continued investment in products, services, technology and platforms is being rewarded”.
Recommended for you
In the latest Meet the Manager profile, Money Management speaks with Michael Skinner, founder and managing director at Blackwattle Investment Partners.
Perpetual has seen AUM rise 6 per cent in the last quarter but the departure of a longstanding JOHCM fund manager led to outflows of $2.2 billion from his strategy.
Global fixed income fund Bentham Global Opportunities has been added to several major platforms, enabling it to be accessed more easily by financial advisers.
Following yesterday’s news about First Sentier Investors closing four investment teams, a second global asset manager has announced it is closing its only dedicated Australian fund.