Digital investment platform OpenInvest has partnered with boutique asset manager Aldersley Capital to launch a low-cost online wealth management solution.
Aldersley Capital Direct will provide access to three different investment portfolios with various risk and return profiles.
The Managed Equity portfolio focuses on long-term returns by primarily investing in Australian listed securities, with a portion allocated to international equities through exchange-traded funds (ETF).
The Income Plus portfolio aims to surpass the returns of 12-month term deposits by 2 per cent over a rolling three-year period. It includes a mix of listed shares, preference shares, listed hybrids, fixed interest securities and ETFs specialising in income-related activities.
The Global Thematic portfolio is designed for investors with low minimum entry requirements and invests in actively managed ETFs focusing on top-down thematic strategies.
Aldersley Capital director and chief investment officer John Aldersley said the wealth management solution would offer easier access to an emerging class of investors.
“There is a regular flow of industry press highlighting the great wealth transfer currently underway and hence very real focus within the industry on reaching those younger Australians who will become tomorrow’s high net worth investors, however, what’s less well understood is that 65 per cent of today’s high net worth investors do not have an investment adviser,” Aldersley noted.
“And with increasingly volatile investment markets, a significant proportion of them are looking for expert and trusted assistance, but they clearly don’t all wish to access this via the traditional and more expensive face-to-face process. We can now give them an online means to access our professionally managed portfolios.”
Aldersley, who was involved in the development of the managed accounts platform structure in Australia in the 1990s at ShareInvest and DirectPortfolio, added the collaboration with OpenInvest was only natural to expand the provision of its investment expertise to a wider clientele.
“I always thought it was inevitable someone would design a platform that combined the power and scalability of social media with the right investment administration and legal structure. I now have the means to reach an extremely large audience, combining our portfolio management expertise with our commentary,” he said.
OpenInvest co-founder and chief executive Andrew Varlamos said the platform was keen to collaborate with an experienced professional in the industry.
“When I first joined the managed accounts industry I was aware of the groundbreaking role played by John. All of us at OpenInvest are very proud to have been chosen by him as the platform partner for Aldersley Capital Direct,” Varlamos stated.