Aviva is in the process of negotiating with five fund managers to develop eight different model portfolios to be offered as separately managed accounts (SMAs) on it Navigator platform.
“A lot of product providers to date have had SMAs and they’ve offered the inherent benefits of them but they haven’t been integrated into a platform at all,” Aviva distribution development manager investment products Stuart Fechner said.
“They’ve always been a separate stand alone offering and we know one of the key trends over the past decade is the use of platforms by advisers and the efficiency for their business.”
In regard to the manager selection process for the SMAs, Aviva has looked to recognised names in the industry rather than boutique managers in order to simplify the move for advisers.
“If we were to bring in a group of boutique managers with names that operate in the SMA space but don’t mean much in terms of brand to the end investor or financial adviser, that in itself would bring a whole lot of extra challenges around acceptance and trust,” Fechner said.
In addition to bringing SMAs into line with the operation of other managed funds, Aviva is also using the move to open up the SMA market to superannuation investors apart from those in the self-managed super fund space.
“Our SMAs will be going onto our mainstream platform that will cover the investments side of things but will also include the personal retirement plan, so it will cover your retail mum and dad SG (super guarantee) superannuation,” Fechner said.
Aviva is initially looking to provide SMAs covering the Australian equity space only, with a focus towards larger cap stocks.
The SMAs on the Navigator platform are expected to be open to investment from the public in September this year.
