Sixteen per cent of planners said they are not free to choose the investment platform they use, according to a recent Investment Trends survey of 1,141 planners.
According to Investment Trends senior analyst Recep Peker, 19 per cent of planners said ‘yes’ when they were asked if they would change any of the platforms they use (if the decision were up to them).
The number of planners who would make the switch is down from 32 per cent in 2008, he said.
Mr Peker said the decrease in “switching behaviour” was linked to platform satisfaction, which increased across the 27 areas measured in the 2013 Investment Trends Planner Technology Report.
The greatest increases in satisfaction (related to planners’ most used platforms) were related to integration, client reporting tools, portfolio management tools and direct equities handling, said Mr Peker.
The top rated platforms based on planner satisfaction were netwealth, Macquarie Wrap and Colonial First State (CFS) FirstChoice, according to the report.
Speaking to InvestorDaily, netwealth executive director Matt Heine said planners were responding positively to the platform’s competitive fees, its international share option and its broad insurance panel.
Mr Heine said he was currently finalising the addition of a third insurer to the platform, which will sit alongside the two existing insurers TAL and AIA.
A majority of netwealth’s clients are boutique/independent planners and licensees, but the company is currently in talks with some institutions that may be looking to expand their approved product lists in order to satisfy the incoming Best Interests Duty, said Mr Heine.
But while netwealth is high in the satisfaction stakes, it is only used as the main platform for two per cent of the market, according to Investment Trends.
BT/Asgard is the main platform for 26 per cent of the market, and is the secondary platform for 18 per cent of the market.
Nineteen per cent of planners use CBA/Colonial First State for their primary platform, while 12 per cent use NAB/MLC.
According to the report, the four largest platforms by “primary relationships” are CFS FirstChoice, BT Wrap, North and Asgard Infinity eWRAP – in that order.
Financial planners use 2.5 platforms on average, said Mr Peker.
