Macquarie steps up platform growth
A bumper month in June which saw Macquarie Wrap Solutions grow by $500 million has pushed the platform’s total funds under advice over the milestone figure of $15 billion.
Macquarie adviser services division director Giulio Russo said that over the course of its life, the platform had grown by $3 billion every 12 months on average to reach the benchmark.
He said the growth represented a strong endorsement from financial advisers, but warned that Macquarie would have to work hard to stave off competitors.
“Advisers sent a strong message to us this year that our competitors are starting to catch us in terms of service provision. We take this feedback very seriously and we believe there is no room for complacency,” he said.
Russo said Macquarie had spent time talking to advisers to identify areas for improvement.
He said rapid growth always put pressure on service levels and the company was concentrating on service provided by back office operations and support staff, and was working to make systems and processes more efficient by eliminating manual tasks and improving hardware.
“We are focussed on meeting advisers’ priorities and designing systems around their needs and requirements to help them run their businesses more efficiently,” he said.
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, has assured the cost and time to enter the financial advice profession will soon be halved, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor pledges to reach 30,000 advisers.
The positive results of the latest financial adviser exam have helped the advice profession reach 15,600 yet again, according to Wealth Data analysis.
Financial advice firms have told Adviser Ratings they are planning to increase their compliance spend by almost a third, including on enhancements to their cyber security which ASIC has identified as an enforcement priority.
The digital advice platform is officially launching into the financial advice sector, offering up its services to practices as a means of engaging with the next generation of clients.