Lonsec SMA review moves to platforms


Lonsec has completed the ratings process it will use on managed accounts and is in the process of surveying and rating managed account platform providers before releasing the results early next year.
The work is part of its ongoing project to provide ratings on separately-managed accounts (SMAs) and platform operators in that sector.
Contracting consultant with Lonsec, Jason Patton, said the research house was processing the data it had gathered on managed accounts and was in the process of gathering data on the managed account platforms.
He said the survey of platforms would take place until the end of the year, with both sets of research to be released in early 2014.
Patton said Lonsec had always intended carrying out the dual-aspect research as it felt there was a need to be able to provide advisers with commentary on both the managed account and the platform through which clients might invest.
Patton said the platform research project was being examined by Lonsec for further application in other areas of research, but said he was not able to comment on how it might be used in the future.
The project falls under the oversight of Lonsec general manager of specialised research Michael Elsworth, who will oversee the execution of the research and rollout to market.
Recommended for you
Lonsec and SQM Research have highlighted manager selection as a crucial risk for financial advisers when it comes to private market investments, particularly due to the clear performance dispersion.
Macquarie Asset Management has indicated its desire to commit the fast-growing wealth business in Australia by divesting part of its public investment business to Japanese investment bank Nomura.
Australia’s “sophisticated” financial services industry is a magnet for offshore fund managers, according to a global firm.
The latest Morningstar asset manager survey believes ETF providers are likely to retain the market share they have gained from active managers.