Newspaper icon
The latest issue of Financial Standard now available as an e-newspaper
READ NOW

WealthO2 launches top manager MDA

WealthO2 has introduced a managed discretionary account with several top managed account investment managers.

The MDA includes the expertise of investment managers including BlackRock, Evergreen, Lonsec, Morningstar, Ralton AM and Zenith.

As WealthO2 is the provider of the MDA, financial advisers are not required to have an MDA authority on their licence.

"It's akin to a service equivalent SMA where the adviser is recommending the MDA service and the professional manager to their client, compared to the often higher cost equivalent SMA product," WealthO2 chief executive Shannon Bernasconi said.

"The MDA best of breed service is a logical extension to WealthO2's existing discretionary and non-discretionary (ROA) adviser solutions across investments and superannuation. The best of breed managers not only bring their investment expertise but also the scale benefits to clients."

The client also retains legal ownership of the listed products and are held on HIN.

"For investment clients that means both full legal ownership of the investment, and transparency, in addition to the tax benefits of the managed account. For superannuation clients this provides member level transparency and intraday trade execution, as well as member level tax component attribution," Bernasconi said.

BlackRock Australia's head of model portfolio solutions Josh Persky added: "The addition of BlackRock Model Portfolios available on the WealthO2 platform is a welcome development."

"It enables advisers to use BlackRock's models through both super and investments on HIN, increasing accessibility for more Australian investors to invest in cost-effective diversified investment solutions to fulfil their long-term financial goals."

Late last month, WealthO2 launched an app for financial advisers and their clients to help them manage their investment and superannuation information.

Read more: BlackRock AustraliaEvergreenJosh PerskyLonsecMorningstarRalton AMShannon BernasconiZenith