AMP has acknowledged the claims made about the lack of innovation occurring in the institutional platform space, but maintains its developments are in line with client demands.
“There’s certainly that feedback in the marketplace and I acknowledge that and understand what they mean,” AMP director of platforms Steve Burgess told InvestorDaily.
“From our perspective, there are probably a few other priorities that come ahead of looking at the bleeding edge of innovation – things like platform efficiencies, linking it to the bank and linking it to SMSFs (self-managed superannuation funds).”
His comments came in response to recent statements made by independent dealer group heads that institutional platforms were not innovating, which resulted in the sector creating in-house unified managed funds as a way to meet client demands, for example.
“There are many ways to innovate,” Burgess said.
“It doesn’t just mean expanding choice and having [numerous] ways of setting up an account.
“It’s a good debate to have but I think there are broader things to consider.”
Despite boutique platform offerings being able to accommodate independent adviser demands – broader choice, lower costs and innovation in asset ownership – AMP was travelling in the right direction, Burgess said.
It is currently working on integrating its platforms with its SMSF business, which will give access to a broader range of assets, which can be incorporated as an individually managed account in conjunction with the North platform.
“We are pushing in that direction, but it’s always going to be the case that we aren’t going fast enough for some people but for most people [we are], remembering that we have to have an offer that satisfies the demands of a broad church and our priorities are in the right order,” Burgess said.
“There are many other ways to innovate and one of those is having [innovative] ways in which you can achieve scale and efficiency, which is different from how everyone else has done it, but still delivering really good value.”
