Insignia expands SMA platform offering

Insignia Financial’s Expand wrap platform has increased its separately managed accounts (SMAs) menu in response to increased demand from advisers.

The platform has added five new investment managers to its Expand Extra menu, including BlackRock, DNR Capital, Elston, Lonsec, and Zenith, which join the platform’s existing managers, MLC Asset Management, Antares, Ausbil, JBWere, Pendal, Perennial, and Zurich.

With these new additions, the platform now hosts 12 investment managers and 64 SMAs providing both multi-asset and single sector options, over 500 managed funds and listed shares, and a range of other investment options.

Additionally, Expand’s core wrap offer, Expand Essential, now includes MLC Managed Accounts, managed by MLC Asset Management, which Insignia said gives clients access to SQM Research’s "highest rated managed accounts".

This expansion follows the migration of more than 94,000 client accounts, valued at $38.6 billion, from MLC Wrap, MLC Navigator, and associated offers, to the Expand platform in April 2024. Expand now has over $75 billion in total funds under advice (FUA) and a total of 210,000 clients.

According to Insignia, the firm’s managed account solutions now exceed $9 billion in funds under management (FUM) after experiencing “around 50 per cent growth for the year”, with the majority of FUM held on the Expand platform.

Speaking on the announcement, Insignia Financial’s general manager wrap solutions and product integration, Cable Rickard, said the new additions to the platform enhances its offering to advisers and their clients.

“These additional SMAs from leading investment managers complement Expand’s existing managed account capability and provide more investment choice and flexibility for licensees, advisers and clients,” Rickard said.

“The expanded SMA menu allows advisers and licensee groups to efficiently provide high-quality investment solutions for clients.

“The continued growth of Expand’s offering, driven by our proprietary technology, demonstrates our commitment to providing ongoing enhancements to both our platform and products to deliver investment solutions with greater efficiencies, lower cost, and better outcomes.”

Rickard said that, in response to growing interest, Expand also offers licensees the ability to construct their own SMAs.

“We currently have five licensees who have built their own SMA models, providing an investment solution customised for their clients, giving access to the efficiencies and scale provided by Expand,” he said.

Rickard added: “SMAs save advisers approximately 20 hours per week, allowing them to manage their time more efficiently.”

A recent report by State Street Global Advisors and Investment Trends, SPDR ETFs/Investment Trends Managed Accounts Report, revealed that financial advisers are increasingly using managed accounts, primarily as a means to increase efficiency.

The report found that use of managed accounts reached a record high with 56 per cent of advisers now using managed funds, more than tripling in a decade from 18 per cent.