Westpac has concluded its sale of the BT platform business but decided to retain the business.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) this morning, the firm said it had decided to retain and continue to invest in the business.
“Westpac will retain and continue to invest in the business including the development of features to improve the adviser and investor experience, as well as the ongoing simplification and improved efficiency of its operations.”
BT had $131 billion in funds under administration and supported more than 350,000 investors with 7,800 active advisers using BT platforms.
Last November, the firm said the potential sale of the Asgard and BT Panorama was “still a consideration” for the firm as it sought to exit its wealth and insurance business.
Funds under administration (FUA) at BT Panorama were $95.9 billion in the 12 months to 30 September, 2022. This was down 8% from a year ago when FUA was $104.7 billion and down 9% from the end of March 2022.
The number of investors using the platform was up 7% from a year ago from 234,948 to 250,809 while total advisers on the platform was up 2% from 6,034 to 6,142.
In May, BT appointed Jason Brown to run BT Panorama’s 70-strong distribution team, who had been carrying out the role in an interim capacity since the departure of Chris Mather in December 2022.
It’s hard to feel the love when you remember how Westpac came in and first studied your business to “help” you, then used that info to create their own in house distribution arm, then brought in a compliance regime that actually disadvantaged many clients, finalising with “we want all your files and you may owe us millions”. They now smell the return of vertical integration and will do exactly the same thing all over again. Wait for Securitor and Magnitutde to return. History always repeats for those who do not learn from the past.
We are out, we are in, we are pro adviser, we hamstring advisers, we are out, we are in, we are out again. Seriously what a culture this group has.
Yup, 3 years ago they threaten to take your house and business away with what can only be described as a nebulous, incompetent and illegal so called “look back” and now they want to be our pals again. We have long memories.
The bank probably wants to enter into some kind of advice again. Are they licking their lips thinking about vertical integration again….