FirstChoice tops platform market
Barely eight years after it was established, Colonial First State’s (CFS) FirstChoice platform has achieved the status of largest investment platform in the Australian market.
The platform’s new status flows from Plan for Life data, which has revealed that FirstChoice increased its market share from 10.65 per cent to 10.94 per cent in the June quarter with funds under administration of $43.6 billion.
Commenting on the data, Colonial First State chief executive, Brian Bissaker attributed the achievement to maintaining a unique market position using a 100 per cent mandate structure, which had consistently delivered a sustainable competitive advantage.
Bissaker also paid tribute to his predecessor at the helm of CFS; Chris Cuffe who he said had introduced the FirstChoice concept.
Discussing the evolution of FirstChoice with Money Management, Bissaker agreed that it had been the right product launched at the right time and it was unlikely that it could be achieved today.
“There are not many who could do it today,” he said.
According to the Plan for Life data, FirstChoice is the largest platform followed by MLC Masterkey, BT Wrap, Asgard, AMP Flexible Lifetime, Macquarie Wrap and then ING OneAnswer.
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Mike Taylor
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