CBA addresses platform concerns
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has moved swiftly to address service level concerns of dealer groups using its newly acquired Symetry platform as the bank attempts to hold on to $1.4 billion in funds under administration in the vehicle.
Just over a month after acquiring the platform from Perpetual and a collective of underlying shareholders, CBA has had to respond to adviser trepidation about Symetry’s services standards, with the bank already making some initial enhancements to the platform, centralising its administration in Melbourne, setting up an end user think-tank, and appointing a new chief executive.
However it appears Symetry and its new head Tony D'Alessandro will have their work cut out.
According to Western Pacific chief executive Geoff Pritchard, whose group sold its 20 per cent stake in Symetry to the bank in late December and has $650 million in the platform, CBA inherited a number of legacy issues.
“Platforms can make a lot of promises and while we are very pleased CBA has bought Symetry and we have no doubt that service levels will improve immeasurably, they still have a huge amount of catching up to do,” Pritchard said.
D'Alessandro, who took over from Don Clifton on December 21 when the deal was signed, said the bank was well aware of the issues after meeting with dealer groups on January 21 and 22.
“What we had was the manufacturer (Avanteos) and the promoter (Symetry) essentially double handling and there was no direct relationship between the manufacturer and the adviser, and advisers were finding this frustrating when they had issues that needed addressing.
“They have given me an action document that will be dealt with through our development board - they have given me time and we are now looking at a number of things, such as pricing,” D'Alessandro said.
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.
