CFS paves way for open architecture insurance on platforms
Colonial First State (CFS) has paved the way for open architecture for insurance on platforms.
The group has appointed Asteron as an insurance partner for its full service FirstWrap platform, in addition to in-house (Commonwealth Bank-owned) insurance provider CommInsure.
The deal allows FirstWrap clients to purchase Asteron insurance using either investment or superannuation funds.
Asteron executive general manager Jordan Hawke said while CFS had currently only opened the door for two providers on the platform, it’s something he could envisage being expanded, not only at CFS but also across the platform industry.
Hawke said platform providers were acknowledging the need to offer choice beyond the in-house offering.
“The consumer is now better educated than ever before and they’re demanding more from their advisers and also the platforms that are on offer, and this is just a perfect example of CFS [responding] to consumer and adviser demand to provide choice,” Hawke said.
“I think it will start to become more and more of a norm in the market.”
Traditionally platforms have offered products from only one insurance provider, typically the in-house option for bank-owned platforms, despite repeated calls from advisers, dealer groups and non-bank owned insurers for broader choice.
CFS head of distribution Marianne Perkovic was one person making the call during her time as managing director of listed dealer group Count Financial, and it appears she has been successful in beginning to implement that service in the role she entered at CFS earlier this year.
A spokesperson for CFS said the group would not comment on speculation regarding its strategy in this space.
The genesis of this deal between CFS and Asteron was the signing of a white-label platform arrangement between Suncorp-owned dealer group Guardian Financial Planning and CFS earlier this year. That deal saw Guardian advisers using Asteron’s Lifeguard product through the dealer group’s new white label CFS platform, Vantage Portfolio Solutions, with the broader CFS/Asteron deal representing an extension of that concept.
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