Making room for new platforms

Sceptics who claimed the industry would not embrace another wrap platform in the market have been proven wrong, according to Praemium Group chief executive officer Arthur Naoumidis.

Naoumidis said over the last few years there had been a lot of market commentary and research pointing to consolidation in the wrap market, indicating there would be no space for new players. However, he said, small players have proven them wrong.

“You’ve got big players owning the big market share, but they’re just big legacy dinosaurs,” Naoumidis said.

“We’re an example of new breeders, more technology-based businesses and clearly with the launch of SMARTwrap and the interest that we [generate] speaks for itself,” he added.

Naoumidis’ comments came as the group added a personal superannuation and pension offering to its relatively new SMARTwrap platform. The group noted that over 50 firms had signed or been issued with contracts to the platform in the past eight weeks.

The new superannuation and pension feature is a fully online wrap offering that enables financial planners to change direct equities and managed funds electronically and also enables financial planners to start transitioning from rebates to a fee-based model, said Naoumidis.

The group expects to attract around 2 to 3 per cent of the market over the next couple of years, which it said would translate to $8-10 billion.

“We’re bullish about it. Now, people will laugh at us, but they should [keep in mind] that we’ve already got 40 odd billion on the Praemium V-wrap [platform],” Naoumidis said.

Praemium will also complete the release of SMARTwrap SMSF, adding to SMARTwrap Investments and SMARTwrap Super.