Fintech financial services firm OpenInvest has negotiated a new partnership with West Australian-based accounting and advisory firm Pascoe Partners, giving consumers access to a new online investing solution.
The new offering, Pascoe Partners Invest, will provide four diversified portfolios to individuals, managed by a professional team at a minimum initial amount of $5000.
The move has been specifically aimed at SMSF trustees who either no longer wish to receive or cannot afford to seek personal financial advice when making their investment decisions.
“As a well-established firm with offices in Perth and the wheatbelt region of WA, we have helped a very large number of clients establish their SMSF as a means to achieve long-term wealth creation and the best possible retirement. Not every SMSF client wants or needs our traditional personal advice experience and yet they all appreciate the value of professional management of their SMSF’s assets,” Pascoe Partners director Andras Hernadi noted.
“Now with Pascoe Partners Invest, we can offer a choice of solutions to all of the firm’s clients and not have to turn away any prospective clients.”
Hernadi pointed out the new online service will also enable the firm to consolidate its relevance for younger investors, such as the children of its existing clients.
“Our experience is that the adult children of our clients are very engaged with their finances and are actively looking for professional investing assistance in these early stages of their wealth-building journeys. Unfortunately, the initial upfront cost of personal advice makes this difficult for most of them. Pascoe Partners Invest allows this cohort to open their investing account in five minutes, directly from our website,” he said.
Further to this purpose, fellow Pascoe Partners director Con Gotsis noted the new online solution was a means to forging new client relationships.
“It’s about more than just money; it’s about knowledge, responsibility and a sense of obligation. We see our new online investing solution as helping to achieve that ambition by being able to include the broadest possible audience within the umbrella of the firm’s professional expertise,” Gotsis said.
OpenInvest head of distribution Ravi Verma acknowledged the regulations governing the provision of financial advice and the reduction in adviser numbers made it imperative for organisations to look to innovative and technology-based solutions to broaden their client reach.
“We’re proud to be playing our role in helping firms like Pascoe Partners to provide their professional expertise to more Australians,” Verma said.
“There’s a huge and very profitable market out there for firms willing to be creative and use technology to reach them.”
The relationship with Pascoe Partners follows a similar arrangement negotiated with Spark Financial Group in April.
