Wealth giant mulls intra-fund advice expansion

A spokesperson for MLC-owned super trustee NULIS Nominees told ifa the group “intends to explore opportunities to enhance its intra-fund advice offering and the channels through which it is delivered”.

The comments come following previous Nine/Fairfax Media reporting that the group had confirmed to a parliamentary committee that it was mulling an expansion of intra-fund advice.

Previous House economics committee documents reveal that NULIS, which is due to be sold along with the broader MLC business as it separates from NAB later this year, spent around $2.8 million, or $2.62 per customer, on intra-fund advice in the 2019 financial year.

“NULIS engages an external advice licensee who are part of the NAB group and a related party to NULIS to provide intra-fund advice via online digital tools to members,” the documents state.

“The cost of these services is paid for by NULIS out of fee revenue and are not additional costs to members.”

NULIS added that because intra-fund advice is currently only offered through digital tools, no bonuses are paid to advisers, nor are advisers employed directly by NULIS for provision of intra-fund advice.

However, the spokesperson said the trustee “recognises that phone-based/face-to-face intra-fund advice is an important aspect in helping super members access specific advice at a reasonable cost”.

The spokesperson added that there were regulatory issues around the provision of intra-fund advice that the trustee would need to consider along with any expansion.

“Clearer regulatory definition of the scope of intra-fund advice with a clear distinction between general advice and comprehensive personal advice would support enhanced intra-fund advice offerings to members,” the spokesperson said.