Competition within Australia’s platform market has increased as providers respond to demand for lower cost offerings and prepare for regulatory changes, Asgard Platforms head of product said.
“Competition on fees is quite fierce at the moment. I think a lot of platforms are responding to demand for lower cost platform alternatives,” Kelly Power told InvestorDaily.
“We’re seeing a lot of people respond from the pricing perspective and we’re also seeing a lot of platforms continue to invest in their equity service, their insurance service and continue to build straight-through processing.”
There is also a focus from platforms on regulatory changes and the need to invest in implementing Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) regulation changes and MySuper, she said.
“That will be a big focus for platforms over the next year or so. But the way the platforms respond to that change can also be an advantage,” Power said.
In response to increased competition, Asgard is focusing on launching new features and developing its Infinity eWRAP platform, she said.
On Friday, Asgard’s Infinity eWRAP surpassed $1 billion in funds under administration.
Power said Infinity was unique in the market because it only charged clients for the features they used.
“Advisers have told us they want a flexible and seamless platform solution that makes it easy to combine the traditional managed fund proposition with equities, ETFs [exchanged traded funds], SMAs [separately managed accounts] and insurance,” Kelly said.
“Advisers are in control of customising the offering so it can help them service new and diverse segments such as self-managed super funds and the next generation of clients.”
