Speaking at the launch of the product yesterday, OneVue chief executive Connie Mckeage said Luminous had begun to get aligned support but interest has been “shut down”.
“We’ve had bank-owned groups start to support us and it looked like there would be a bit of a wave, but it’s actually stopped because the licence is still held by a large institution,” said Ms Mckeage.
“They actually support us, but as the word of mouth got along we were told that there would be no more or they’d have to change their licence.”
IFAs on the other hand have shown keen interest in the product which has been brought to market via a partnership with News Corp and Eureka Report’s retail investment platform Brightday.
“We’ve had fantastic responses from licensees,” she said. “The support that we’ve had for this has surpassed expectations. It’s predominantly non-aligned”.
Ms Mckeage said partnering with non-financial companies was the key.
“We connected with News Corp and Eureka and the reason is they have nothing to lose. They weren’t in financial services, they didn’t own a platform, and they were willing to seriously do research to find out what clients wanted,” she said.
“We’re not going to change it by somebody that owns a platform. We started listening to the consumer without the noise across the financial services industry and it was fantastic.”
Ms Mckeage said the aim of Luminous is to demonstrate a commitment to “changing the market”.
“We have to look at the world as a continuum now … [initially] you’re probably not adviser-led, and then somewhere along the way something triggers the need to see an adviser,” she said.
“The greater your trusted relationship with the adviser, the more that him or her can see what you are doing with the rest of your life.”
Luminous allows customers to dip in and out of advice as needed and also allows “stepped” permission for advisers whereby they can provide advice alone or implementation. The platform also places asset allocation at the fore.
Other features include the ability to create family group reporting, deliver accurate CGT reporting, watch an SMSF member balance daily and an entry into a term deposit hub.
“Luminous is a revolution as it has been designed from scratch to allow advisers to engage more with clients. Our industry can now capitalise on the needs and speeds of the digital investor whether that be via an adviser or direct,” Ms Mckeage said.
I completely understand why the institutions have reacted like this. OneVue needs to become a licensee and see if they wouldn’t mind their advisers using another platform. If the shoe was on the other foot I am sure they would react no differently. I wish this whole independence debate would stop – its confusing the average person and gone too far. Institutions are paying a fortune to develop platforms for their advisers – why shouldn’t they receive support? Yes, if you don’t like the platform that much move dealer groups simple!