Leading investment platform North has today announced two enhancements for advisers which will help drive business efficiencies and improve retirement outcomes for clients.
Record of Advice
A new, streamlined Record of Advice (ROA) preparation process is helping advisers save time, improve data accuracy and better show the impact of investment switch transactions.
According to independent consultant NMG, North’s ROA functionality was ranked in first place in NMG’s Australian Adviser Insights Programme for 2022. North is one of the only platforms with same day switch capability reducing time out of market for clients and is one of the many reasons why advisers are turning to North as their investment platform.
The new ROA template contains pre-formatted tables and charts detailing current and proposed investment holdings as well as a summary of fees, portfolio valuation and asset allocations – making it easier to integrate into their existing client documentation.
Advisers can now include their clients’ proposed target risk profile when performing an investment switch, while proposed asset allocation can be reviewed against the client’s risk profile and determined if in line with the client’s investment strategy.
The simplified ROA process also collates switch transaction information from a single touchpoint in North, without having to resort to external software or templates.
The embedded functionality significantly reduces the time required to prepare an ROA, allowing advisers to view proposed tax implications prior to switch execution. Capital Gains Tax data is included onscreen under a new tab and can be easily exported for each client.
Investment switches are one of the most common actions performed by an adviser for their clients. AMP data shows approximately one in four advisers on the North platform generate an ROA when they perform a switch.
MyNorth Lifetime Super Calculator
North has also moved to uplift its MyNorth Lifetime Super Calculator for advisers, functionality which forms part of its new, multi-award winning suite of retirement solutions.
The newly enhanced calculator allows advisers to help clients optimise their retirement savings by providing recommendations on strategies to maximise Age Pension benefits and Centrelink Asset Test discounts, and structure capital in the accumulation phase to help clients better prepare for retirement.
MyNorth Lifetime offers retirees and those transitioning into retirement the highest level of lifetime income in the market and was recently awarded Chant West’s Best Fund Innovation Of The Year. It is also the recipient of Canstar’s Innovation Excellence Award and two Plan For Life (PFL) longevity cover awards.
With average life expectancy for Australians reaching 84 in 2022, according to a February report by AMP and leading demographer Bernard Salt, more and more Australians in the accumulation phase will need support to help optimise their superannuation balances in retirement.
New features now available for advisers
Additional functionality uplift for North includes:
Activity Management - New interface with significantly improved online performance and search functionality
Digital Consent - Advisers can now include their own advice fee documents as part of the North digital consent process, requiring only a single client approval
Historical Advice Fees - The new ART report can be produced across one or all of an adviser’s clients in bulk and will allow them to review historical advice fees, better manage their fee income and audit all advice fees received.
Edwina Maloney, AMP Director of Platforms said:
“North continues to invest in its award-winning wrap platform with a steady stream of new enhancements. We work closely with advisers to ensure North provides functionality which makes the most meaningful difference to how they operate their practices and deliver advice.
“It’s why we’ve prioritised an uplift to the ROA process – because we know it makes a significant difference to practice efficiency and allows advisers to spend more time with clients.
“Our enhanced MyNorth Lifetime Super Calculator also adds further capability to what is already a game changing solution and will further help advisers achieve the best possible retirement outcomes for their clients.”
James Collie, Financial Adviser, Collie Wealth Management said:
“I am really pleased by AMP’s enhanced North ROA offer. We’re using it regularly and it’s saving over an hour per client and created tremendous business efficiency. It’s also visually appealing for clients.”
