Australian Funds Supermarket

[JonnoM]

I am moving to Australia later in the year and I am giving some thought as to what to do with my UK investment portfolio which comprises stocks & shares and mutual funds.

 

I currently use Hargreaves Lansdown in the UK to hold my investments and I assuming that there will be similar financial services companies in Australia although an initial internet search hasn't enabled me to identify an obvious equivalent yet.

I plan to cash in most of my UK investments over the next year or two when the exchange rate is favourable and I would like to have a suitable investment account ready in Australia to re-invest in a similar portfolio.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations of appropriate Australian financial services companies offering retail fund and stocks & shares investment accounts, dealing services and access to research data? Good customer service and products are probably more important to me than lowest fees.

 

Thanks in advance for any recommendations, advice or suggestions.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Have a chat with @Andrew from Vista Financial http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/financial-advice-ask-vista/ if he can't help he will know someone who can.

[Andrew from Vista Financial]

Hello Jonno

 

There are Wraps/Platforms in Australia that offer the ability to purchase/invest in Wholesale Managed Funds, Exchange Traded Funds and Direct Equities etc, the major ones are bank owned as follows:

 

BT Wrap - (Westpac)

 

CFS Firstwrap - (Commonwealth)

 

MLC Wrap & Navigator - (NAB)

 

Onepath Wrap - (ANZ)

 

North - (AMP)

 

There are others too however the funds world in Oz is certainly not as vast as the UK and the fees tend to be higher, also generally these products are not offered to an individual directly and Advisers set them up on behalf of their clients. That said I do know that nowadays it may be possible for an individual to run one themselves (it may need the provider to run a due diligence check to ensure understanding of the product).

 

The other options are to look at opening an online Broker account and again most of the Banks offer these, ie E Trade (ANZ) and Commsec (Commonwealth), there are others too that tend to be a bit cheaper, this allows purchase of Direct Equities and ETFs etc directly and offers reporting and research.

 

Recently the ASX launched M-Funds which allows purchase of Managed Funds in the same way as shares (via a Broker) however there has not been too much take up from Fund Managers so quite limited in choice but it is gaining traction: http://www.asx.com.au/mfund/fund-information.htm

 

There are also retail platforms that offer a restricted managed fund menu (no equities) at lower costs and again most Banks and some Fund Managers have these offerings such as:

 

Onepath Frontier Investment - (ANZ)

 

CFS Wholesale Firstchoice - (Commonwealth)

 

Russell IQ - (Russell Investment Managers).

 

This may also help http://www.asgard.com.au/For_investors/Education/investment_platforms.html.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[JonnoM]

Thanks Andrew, this information has given me a great starting place to do some further research. Fortunately, I am not in any hurry to transfer investments from the UK and am able to do so in a phased approach.

It seems that Australians are more keen to invest directly in property rather than in the stock market but, as my OH already has an investment unit in addition to our primary home, between us I believe that we are already overcommitted to property.

[rachelwc]

I am looking to do the same as Jonno, and I also have a hargraves lansdown account, i'll prob just invest in funds though opposed to stocks and shares and I won't be moving savings just investing what I earn in oz and so will my partner. I've looked at some other sites to the ones you recommend, but some you have to pay a monthly subscription?? also are the ones you recommended fund supermarkets or only offer their own products?

 

 

 

 

I also found this article which was quite useful. http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/money/investment/funds-under-wraps/2009/06/15/1244917984503.html

 

is a wrap like an ISA?

Edited October 13, 2016 by rachelwc

[Andrew from Vista Financial]

I am looking to do the same as Jonno, and I also have a hargraves lansdown account, i'll prob just invest in funds though opposed to stocks and shares and I won't be moving savings just investing what I earn in oz and so will my partner. I've looked at some other sites to the ones you recommend, but some you have to pay a monthly subscription?? also are the ones you recommended fund supermarkets or only offer their own products?

 

 

 

 

I also found this article which was quite useful. http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/money/investment/funds-under-wraps/2009/06/15/1244917984503.html

 

is a wrap like an ISA?

 

 

Hi Rachel

 

This thread is quite old and the link to the article you gave even older and very out of date!

 

Commissions in Australia on Investments/Superannuation has been banned for a few years now.

 

There has been an another question similar to this asked since this thread that may help, have a look: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/financial-advice-ask-vista/246976-investments-australia.html

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Gbye grey sky]

I am moving to Australia later in the year and I am giving some thought as to what to do with my UK investment portfolio which comprises stocks & shares and mutual funds.

 

I currently use Hargreaves Lansdown in the UK to hold my investments and I assuming that there will be similar financial services companies in Australia although an initial internet search hasn't enabled me to identify an obvious equivalent yet.

I plan to cash in most of my UK investments over the next year or two when the exchange rate is favourable and I would like to have a suitable investment account ready in Australia to re-invest in a similar portfolio.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations of appropriate Australian financial services companies offering retail fund and stocks & shares investment accounts, dealing services and access to research data? Good customer service and products are probably more important to me than lowest fees.

 

Thanks in advance for any recommendations, advice or suggestions.

 

We have a similar set up in the UK with Fidelity and have noticed that Fidelity are also in Australia (though it is a wholly separate company). Their Autralian website might be worth a look as it seems to offer this service albeit I suspect with far fewer investment options.