Financial planning firm Centric Wealth has started to roll out its new individually managed account (IMA) system to advisers after an overhaul of its systems.
"We are just about finished and will start rolling it out in July through our adviser base," Centric Wealth products and services general manager Jennifer McDermott said.
"We take a really slow approach to the rollout," she said.
"Moving to a managed account structure is a change for clients and advisers. Some clients might not want to change to a managed account structure," she said.
Centric Wealth has developed software that allows the integration of its wrap platform with a managed account structure, enabling consolidated reporting across direct and indirect investments.
"We are moving to a more centralised model that is more akin to IMAs in the marketplace," McDermott said.
"It allows for making centralised changes in all portfolios."
The centralised approach is more efficient because advisers will not have to issue a statement of advice every time a portfolio is rebalanced.
It is also designed to cater for the increased demand for direct investments.
As part of the overhaul, Centric Wealth expanded its research and portfolio construction team, which will make recommendations about asset allocation through the development of a series of model portfolios.
The advisers will match these portfolios with their client profiles and then determine which investments are appropriate for their clients.
McDermott said Centric Wealth might consider badging the software, which took 18 months to develop, to other dealer groups.
"There might be opportunity for other groups to make use of the service we've built," McDermott said.
