Australian margin lenders are investing heavily in new product development as client and financial adviser interest in the sector regains momentum.
Core Equity Services general manager Peter Steel said the company was looking to develop a new range of gearing products that focused on clients and managing risk.
“We are looking at a number of things. Risk has always been a big part of our business, not just operational risk but market risk and education of that risk for our clients or how they could, should manage their risk,” Steel said.
“We’re looking to introduce potentially next year some other products that still allow clients to have gearing and market exposure, but maybe different ways to achieve that gearing, not just the traditional debit methods.”
He said the company was also looking at packaging of products as well as working towards making it easier for independent financial advisers to put together bundles for their clients.
Westpac head of equities distributions and sales Craig Keary said the company planned to continue to invest in its existing product suite.
“We are looking to bring some other products to market soon as well. We think the world has changed and the types of leverage that investors want, it’s a range of solutions, it’s not just margin lending,” Keary said.
“So we are quite fortunate in our suite to have some protected lending products, some warrants and some margin loans, so we think it’s all about trying to give choice and it’s really about giving those strategies out as well.
“I do think a lot of people will be coming out with different products, are very transparent, provide liquidity and give a very defined outcome for the investor.”
NAB Equity Lending head Adrian Hanley said while the company had strong relationships with financial advisers, the group was seeking to build stronger ties with the stockbroking sector.
“Something that we’re probably having a greater focus on at the moment is [stockbrokers] because certainly we think we can add more value [with] our relationship with stockbrokers and really build that part of our target market out,” Hanley said.
He said as a means to achieve this, the National Australia Bank division planned to invest in tools and have a seamless system integrated with stockbrokers.
“So that’s something that we can offer at the moment, but it’s not something that we haven’t traditionally focused on,” he said.
“I think timing is very critical for the stockbroking community and having a system that integrates with a stockbroker system so when clients are buying and selling shares, if our system can vet transactions seamlessly and quickly, then that certainly helps an adviser and client.”
Bendigo Wealth executive John Billington said the company’s lending division, Leveraged Equities, had been spending a lot of time on figuring out how to build a margin lending business amid the industry’s generational change in attitudes.
