Macquarie / Asgard scoop service awards

Despite being on offer for just a year, Asgard Elements has taken top spot in the platform category of this year’s Assirt/Wealth Insights Service Level Awards, while Macquarie was rated the best fund manager by advisers for the third year running.

Macquarie, which won in both categories of last year’s awards, ranked ahead of 22 other fund managers to take out its prize, which is based on advisers’ views of the service they receive from different groups.

Zurich took out second place, Colonial First State came third, Perpetual ranked fourth and Vanguard came fifth.

Macquarie head of adviser sales Jason Huddy said: “We are responsive to what advisers tell us they’re looking for and what’s important to them.”

The results are based on the opinions of 819 financial advisers recruited at random, who rated groups on over 30 different service attributes, such as the quality of their administrative support.

Three of Asgard’s master trust/wrap products made the top five list of platform providers from a field of 16.

The low cost Asgard Elements won the award, while Asgard tied for second with Macquarie Wrap. Asgard eWrap came in fifth, behind Colonial First Choice, which placed fourth.

Chief executive of Asgard parent Sealcorp, Geoff Lloyd, said: “We have consistently invested in our systems, our people and our process.”

Wealth Insights managing director Vanessa McMahon said Asgard and Macquarie had proven themselves with service levels for several years.

She added service levels were becoming increasingly important differentiators for fund managers and platform providers.

“Offering the right investment menu is quite important. However, in today’s marketplace, most platforms have got this right,” she said.

“So, really the way to differentiate, and the thing advisers are looking for when they choose, is service. It is really important to advisers. They don’t want to waste time chasing paperwork.”