IOOF's Pursuit gets FOFA upgrade
IOOF has announced a range of changes to the fee structure of its Pursuit platform with an eye to ensuring it is ready for incoming Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) changes.
IOOF's head of sales Geoff Kellett said the group viewed Pursuit as essentially FOFA-ready from day one as it was launched as a fee-for-service platform, but added "it's been clear that ensuring the engine for advisers to apply the FOFA framework to the way they charge clients is important".
The changes are mostly around improving flexibility and transparency, Kellett said.
The changes include recognition of the licensee fee so that advisers can separately identify the part of the fee that goes to the licensee to cover costs.
A new advice insurance fee will provide a percentage-based fee option for insurance premiums or a flat dollar amount per month, allowing advisers to choose how they charge for advice on insurance.
Advisers can still receive commission on new accounts as long as FOFA allows them to up to 1 July 2013, and those who want to move to a more transparent advice fee are able to do so, Kennett said.
IOOF has also streamlined its application forms and is now accepting new product applications for the IOOF Pursuit product suite via email.
Feedback from advisers after announcing the changes has been overwhelmingly positive, Kellett said.
The changes were made not just to improve FOFA-readiness but to address what advisers wanted, he added.
"We've taken the opportunity to include [as well as some of the FOFA enhancements] changes that really just make the product easier for advisers to deal with, mostly around the application format [and] the ability to accept electronic applications, and there are a couple of fee changes which reduce some of the fees and make it a bit easier to talk about advice," he said.
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