Software provider Sharesight has experienced a lift in interest for its automated, cloud-based portfolio management system from accountants looking after SMSF portfolios.
Sharesight general manager Doug Morris said the new offering was proving popular with accountants looking to view SMSF portfolios in an aggregated way.
“We’re finding that accountants want to have their finger on the pulse regarding their clients’ investment accounts or need to know what’s going on at the very least, so we’re receiving a steady organic uptick in users each day,” Morris told selfmanagedsuper.
“We already have a healthy mix of retail DIY investors and accountants [using the software] and we’ve got financial advisers using the product as well, which has been a surprise to us.
“There’s not really a solution out there for accountants when it comes to figuring out what the performance of their clients’ investment portfolios has been, such as accurate returns of share-trading accounts and other accounts you have within an SMSF as well as tax reporting come end of financial year.”
Sharesight allows users to view the performance and tax of investor portfolios and it can be linked to any share-trading accounts.
“In the past, accountants had to bill their clients for all this admin work, but we’ve made all of this automatic so they can focus on higher-level, high-quality strategic advice,” Morris said.
“Any trades that are made, any dividends paid and corporate actions all flow into Sharesight automatically.”
He said he had initially expected pushback from accountants moving onto the cloud, in terms of security and data, but the technology had not been a barrier to interest.
“Purely cloud-based services are appealing because they’re new and more easy to use, but also anything on the cloud tends to be cheaper than what’s out there,” he said.
“The sharing ability with end clients is also really key.
“Those legacy systems, which are not too much different from the old-school investment platforms, couldn’t allow you to actually share with clients, but new cloud players give clients a view into what’s going on and that’s really powerful as investors want to get more of a look into their financial picture.”
Sharesight is looking to partner directly with accounting firms, but also offers white-labelling and bespoke software solutions.
