Study shows need for platform innovation, Hub24 says

Mr Alcock made the comment in response to a Tria Investment Partners study, which suggests a segment of advisers targeting affluent customers expects to reduce their FUA on platform by nearly 10 per cent over the next three years, creating a $22 billion hole.

Those platforms at risk are more traditional kinds, which have yet to evolve to cater to advisers' administrative needs, Mr Alcock told ifa.

"To me, the message (of the report) is absolutely right. If you don't build it, it's not going to work," he said.

"I agree generally that traditional platforms, if they don't evolve, will risk not being able to service high net worth clients. They have to keep up with what's going on in terms of investing and administration.

"High net worth clients have to consider what their best administration vehicle is. If you've got the goods, they will go there. So I don't see it as a hole, I see it as an opportunity."

Mr Alcock said advisers are looking for a range of features on platforms, including 24/7 reports and mobile access, since that is what their clients are demanding.

"If you're running a high net worth portfolio and you don't have tools to let your client log in and see what their balance is today, that's a bit of a risk in my perspective," he said.

"Clients want to see where they stand. They want the ability to do that. It's the ability to have real time reporting, that's what platforms need to be offering."

Tria's study, Tria Australian Wealth Insights Programme, found that advisers targeting high net worth clients expect to reduce theirs by nearly 5 per cent, while mass affluent-focused advisers predict they will pull 2.6 per cent of their FUA out of platforms by 2018.

While platform use is not expected to disappear entirely, the predicted reductions could have an impact on assets and revenues, it said.