NTAA planning entity signs on to HUB24

According to a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange today, listed platform manufacturer Investorfirst – which has rebranded as HUB24 Limited – has reached an agreement which will see NTAA members have access to the HUB24 investment platform.

Specifically the deal has been struck with an entity InterPrac Financial Planning – an Australian Financial Services licence holder which provides “adviser support including personalised SOA templates, financial calculators, software, research, paraplanning services and business development support” to NTAA member firms and has over 90 authorised representatives according to its website.

According to the ASX statement, InterPrac operates “under the auspices” of the NTAA and has also recently launched a separate AFSL under the name ‘SMSF Advisers Network’ – an entity which has also gained access to the HUB24 platform through the announced agreement.

The launch of a self-managed super fund-advice focused AFSL follows a hyperbolic email sent from NTAA executives to its members – obtained by ifa – which spoke of a “financial planning empire” and railed against AMP’s push into the SMSF sector as a “blitzkrieg” on small accountants.

The ASX statement also describes the NTAA as a “not-for-profit” organisation, counter to the argument made by Count Financial chief executive David Lane, reported by ifa last week, which called out the underlying profit motivation of the association.

Last month, the NTAA launched a scathing attack on the financial planning community – despite its oversight of InterPrac Financial Planning – which drew the ire of the financial planning associations and shadow minister for financial services Mathias Cormann.