Auckland-headquartered financial advisory business, Become Wealth, has consolidated its investment administration on the Consilium wrap platform after shifting about $65 million from rival services this month.
Following the move, largely from the ANZ OneAnswer platform, Become – previously known as Milestone Direct – has more than $90 million with Consilium across its wrap, Evidential funds and KiwiSaver scheme.
Joseph Darby, Become chief, said the group had been running multiple platforms since a recent acquisition.
Milestone Direct merged with niche medical sector financial advisory firm, Become.nz in 2022 to form the new brand, picking up a small book of Consilium-administered clients.
Darby said Become opted to rationalise platforms into Consilium to access new technology along with support services designed to support both adviser businesses and end clients.
“Consilium has invested in the future,” he said. “The platform has technological advances that will help clients and advisers. We were looking for a long-term partner committed to work alongside us as we grow.”
Transitioning to the new platform was “much easier than I thought it would be”, Darby said, in a process simplified given both Consilium and OneAnswer are built on FNZ technology.
Become currently has six advisers based across Auckland and Christchurch. The group also has several corporate advice contracts including a long-running deal with the NZ Defence Force, first struck in 2015 then updated last year.
In a statement, Consilium managing director, Scott Alman, said: “Become Wealth will benefit from the sophisticated and flexible rebalancing engine, and a transparent and clear view of holdings, performance and tax reporting.”
Consilium now has more than $8 billion under management in the wrap platform.
Also last week, the AMP NZ wealth management business hooked up with Heartland Bank to offer term deposits to KiwiSaver and other retail clients.
The Heartland-backed term deposits “add another key option for our customers to manage their savings and investments” with the wealth management group, AMP NZ managing director, Jeff Ruscoe, said in a release.
According to the statement, the new bank savings product – AMP NZ’s first foray into the space – would be a “natural accompaniment” for retiring KiwiSaver members.
“As more and more people approach 65 years of age, they are looking for the increased convenience, flexibility and predictability with their investments that term deposits can provide,” the release says.
More than 230,000 retirees have withdrawn funds from KiwiSaver since inception of the savings regime in 2007 while the just-published Retirement Commission policy review says a further 200,000 plus members aged 65 and over remain as members of schemes.
With more KiwiSaver members set to reach retirement age with larger balances, some providers are looking at ways to retain their assets either in scheme or via other products such as the AMP term deposit offer.
Bank-based KiwiSaver schemes are naturally positioned to entice retiring members with term deposits. AMP says it is the first of the “large, non-bank KiwiSaver” schemes to provide term deposits to members. But other the platform-style KiwiSaver scheme, InvestNow, for example, also has a range of term deposits in its broader suite of products while other providers also include cash portfolio investment entity (PIE) managed funds that could appeal to yield-focused retirees.
At the same time, the AMP is facing a tight deadline to replace ANZ as underlying manager in its KiwiSaver and employer master trust schemes. ANZ told clients it was quitting the wholesale investment business last month in a call that has left AMP looking for a new home for about $780 million.
In disclosure updates, AMP says ANZ “has informed AMP of its
intention to exit from providing Underlying Fund Manager duties on or about 31 August 2024”.
“AMP is working through what this means for customers invested in the ANZ funds offered within AMP schemes and will communicate to investors when a decision has been made.”