New platform targets clients not yet ready for full financial advice

The new online solution – hmh onlineinvest – has been launched by hmh Advisory (formerly Haines Muir Hill) and gives clients access to four diversified portfolios covering a range of risk and return profiles.

The new platform primarily caters to young adults facing challenges in accessing financial advice. It is particularly tailored for the firm’s accounting clients who would appreciate professional portfolio assistance, but don’t require or aren’t ready for full personal financial advice service; and the children/grandchildren of financial services clients, who are also not at the stage of seeking full service financial advice.

Managing director Kristian Lunardello said that hmh’s onlineinvest solution would enable the firm to help a broader range of clients in their wealth-building journey and is consistent with the firm’s focus of meeting the needs of its core clientele of small-to-medium business owners.

“Not every client needs personal advice experience and the new online solution gives them a choice in how they wish to access the company’s wealth management expertise,” he said.

Eli Staub, director and investment committee member for the onlineinvest solution, added that hmh onlineinvest aims to help the next generation of clients.

“We are very aware that personal financial advice is beyond the reach of many young adults, due to the heavy compliance burden on the industry and resultant fee structures,” he said.

“We can now let the children and other relations of our clients know that they have a simple and lower-cost avenue to access our wealth management expertise, to help them invest in a sensible way.

“There’s a right way and a wrong way to invest, and if more young people can learn about the benefits of investing via professionally-managed, diverse portfolios – rather than trading – the better.”

Melbourne-based investment platform OpenInvest is collaborating with hmh Advisory on the new offering.

Ravi Verma, OpenInvest head of distribution, said hmh onlineinvest offers advisers an innovative platform helping them extend their reach and assist a wider demographic.

“The dramatic loss of advisers across the industry in recent years and the work required to service a client under the traditional personal advice model means that wealth management firms wanting to reach and help a broader audience must leverage innovative technology,” said Mr Verma.

“We are in the earliest stages of the greatest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history, with $3.5 trillion of wealth passing through the generations over the next two decades, strategic wealth management firms are reaching out to young people now, and not waiting until they meet their criteria for serving HNW clients via personal advice.

“I’m fond of framing this opportunity/threat equation in pretty stark terms. If firms aren’t trying to help young adults now, then how can they expect them to come to you when they have grown their wealth, including via inheritance?”