OpenInvest has signed a partnership agreement with Brisbane financial advice and accounting firm Hudson Financial Planning to provide an online investing solution for people who are currently unadvised.
Under the arrangement, the new offering, Hudson Invest, will provide access to three multi-asset investment portfolios managed by Hudson and designed to allow investors to choose an option that best meets their needs and objectives.
Hudson Financial Planning managing director Juanita Wrenn said the firm wanted to remove the barriers to professional investing faced by unadvised Australians while building on its 30-year experience in providing diversified, multi-asset, long-term investing advice.
“With advances in technology, we are now also able to offer this opportunity to the broader market of unadvised Australians via a simple five-minute sign-up process and no advice fees,” Wrenn explained.
“We recognise the implications of the massive intergenerational wealth transfer that is currently underway.
“By actively seeking to reach and serve the next generation of high net worth (HNW) individuals, those who will be the beneficiaries of inheritance and/or HENRYs – high earners not rich yet – we can develop long-term, trusted relationships with the ideal clients of tomorrow.”
Hudson Financial Planning chief financial officer Kris Wrenn added: “The OpenInvest value proposition is very strategic and perfectly aligns with how we run Hudson Financial and think about this industry.
“Not everyone is ready for, or wants, the traditional personal advice service. Working with OpenInvest means we can now reach and serve new audiences and nurture the next generation of HNW clients. And it empowers us to compete against the ambitious digital-first platforms that are aggressively targeting the HNWs of the future.”
OpenInvest head of distribution Ravi Verma noted the new offering would be a key part in transitioning clients to more comprehensive advice over time.
“Tech-savvy planning firms like Hudson Financial are very aware that advances in AI (artificial intelligence) and changes in how younger generations are using technology mean that well-funded digital-first providers are going to be increasingly serious competition, and hence it makes strategic sense for them to be proactive in addressing this by launching their own online proposition,” Verma indicated.
“It’s easier to uplift a long-standing client to a personal advice relationship if you’ve been successfully servicing them within your online solution for many years and helped them to grow their wealth, than it is to have to win them away from a competitor when they become ideal clients.”
