MLC announces overhaul of Flexiplan platform

MLChas outlined changes to its Flexiplan investment platform, including renaming it to MasterKey Custom, changing the fee structure, expanding the investment menu and dropping the MLC name.

MLC says the alignment of Flexiplan towards MasterKey, which is being promoted as part of the National group, is part of a strategy to provide a family of platforms to support all types of clients.

As such, MasterKey will be pitched at clients who delegate all investment decisions to planners and is being expanded to look after clients who want their investment decisions validated by a planner.

The renamed Flexiplan will be aimed at high-net-worth clients who want to take an active role in investment decision making, MLC general manger of adviser distribution Matt Lawler says.

“It is not the sum of the assets to be invested that decides which platform, but the decision on how much involvement in the process the client wants,” he says.

Lawler says the new fee structure starts at 1.2 per cent for clients with a balance of less than $100,000 and drops to 0.3 per cent for accounts worth $3 million and more.

Advisers will also benefit from the change, with initial fees moving up by five per cent for investor contributions. MLC will also remove the marketing allowance fee to advisers from July 1 and trails will be included in client reports.

Other changes to the Flexiplan platform include the addition of a standard lifetime pension for self-managed superannuation fund clients and the inclusion of protection products in client reports.

Twenty extra managers will also be added to the MasterKey platforms, with MLC negotiating for rebates to be passed on to clients in the form of lower managed expense ratios.