Opes Prime plans to make its support services for mid-range high-net-worth clients available to financial planners in the New Year.
“The mid-market family business type of high-net-worth client hasn’t been served very well by the banks’ private client divisions,” Opes director Julian Smith told Money Management.
“This group of clients is typified by baby boomers, who have more money, more self-confidence and knowledge about financial matters.”
Smith said many were family-run businesses that had their own superannuation fund, but because they were below the minimum amount of assets, private banking divisions didn’t want to know them.
“In financial matters this doesn’t worry them, but they do want the type of services private banking offers,” he said.
“They want the tools private banking offers combined with advice.”
Opes has defined this client group as having about $500,000 in assets, which are usually tied up in self-managed superannuation funds.
“They are what used to be defined as ‘sophisticated investors’ and sometimes called ‘family office money’,” Smith said.
“Often when leveraged, these people are managing assets of up to $10 million.”
Opes is to develop strategies to tackle this market segment, and the first is to offer its wealth platform product for share trading.
Smith said the platform was used by brokers, but hoped to expand this to financial planners and their clients.
“We are bringing the share trading tools that traditionally have only been available to institutional clients,” he said.
“We want to provide such a product to the self-managed superannuation segment by offering multi-model execution tools.”
To expand this service, Opes will apply for a custodian licence to offer custody services to the client segment.
“We also want to establish a corporate advisory service for small to medium business owners,” Smith said.
“We can look after clients by providing services on superannuation through to corporate advice on their businesses.”
He said by providing a range of services, it is expected clients might initially use just one, and then this will generate other work for Opes in different areas of their family business.
“The aim is to provide services that will cover the whole spectrum of the family business, as the retail banks are not interested in the middle segment.”
Smith said Opes will start approaching dealer groups offering these services as a service provider.
“We are not interested in providing advice, the adviser is best to do that,” he said.
However, despite the family business sector not being well served, Smith said this market is limited in a country with a population of 20 million, so Opes is looking at expanding its overseas operations.
It has an office in Singapore and will shortly open a New York office.
“We have seen the same demographics in other countries, so there is a client demand for these types of services,” Smith said.
