Financial services portfolio manager and administration firm Hub24 has launched a new investment platform to the market giving investors access to managed funds without a unitised structure.
Traditionally these types of managed funds have been described as separately managed accounts (SMAs) but according to Hub24 director Darren Pettiona this has only served to confuse the majority of the financial services market.
"They are really just non-unitised managed funds. They are no different to what other platforms are offering otherwise except the non-unitised universe has so many more advantages," Pettiona said.
Currently 13 fund managers have agreed to provide products for the Hub24 platform with a further 10 managers expected to agree to be a part of the offering over the next four weeks.
Those managers already associated with the platform include Bennelong, Hyperion, Platypus, and UBS.
Once the platform manager line up is complete Hub24 intends to be able to offer 60 non-unitised Australian equity investment options.
One unique feature the new platform can offer is the ability for financial planning dealer groups to customise the managers' investment models.
The platform structure will also allow investors to minimise their capital gains tax event.
"In a conventional managed fund environment if you move from Manager A to Manager B it's a completely new investment so you'll crystalise 100 per cent of the gain. In this environment if you move from Portfolio A to Portfolio B, 80 per cent of the stocks are the same so you're only going to crystalise the gain on the different stocks," Hub 24 director Jason Entwhistle said.
The platform is available for investors now and Hub24 is currently in talks with two financial planning dealer groups who are looking to use the new product.
