IOOF's advice outflows top $1bn

In an update to the market on Thursday, IOOF said its advice division had seen $1.3 billion in net outflows over the three months to December as a result of its Advice 2.0 "business transformation".

This figure did not include $363 million in outflows from IOOF aligned dealer groups to the company's Alliances business as more of its advisers sought to be self-licensed.

The numbers represent a significant drop from the last quarter of 2019, where IOOF saw $939 million in net inflows to its advice arm.

In the business update, IOOF also flagged it had seen $2.2 billion in net outflows from its investment management business, primarily as the result of "reinvestment simplification into external interest-bearing cash accounts delivering improved client outcomes". IOOF said the revenue differential as a result of the change was negligible.

Its pensions and investments business, formerly owned by ANZ, saw $625 million in net outflows, while inflows to its portfolio and estate administration business were positive with $40 million coming in over the last quarter of 2020 – although this was a significant drop compared with $360 million that flowed in through the last quarter of 2019.

Despite the disappointing figures, chief executive Renato Mota said IOOF was "making good progress towards the transformation of the business".

"In particular, we are transforming the advice business through our Advice 2.0 strategy and progressing our platform simplification strategy, while supporting IOOF’s open architecture approach and enabling choice for our clients," Mr Mota said.

He added that the group was meeting targets to transform its advice business and complete its acquisition of NAB-owned wealth group MLC, which was announced in August last year.