Macquarie has combined two of its existing business units to form a new operational team to improve product development and support facilities for financial advisers and their clients.
Called Macquarie Specialist Investments, the new business arm is made up of members of the Macquarie Funds Group and the organisation’s Banking and Finance Services Group.
Adviser demand for one point of contact for investment services was one of the drivers of the move, according to Macquarie Specialist Investments executive director Peter van der Westhuyzen.
“In the old days Funds Group would have done something but they wouldn’t have had an equities-based solution, and Financial Services Group would have done something in managed funds and people would say I want that product with those features and we would have to say to them you can’t because we’ve got this and they’ve got that,” he said.
“It’s now far easier for us to devise more comprehensive solutions for people because of the level of expertise we have now put together.”
Macquarie Specialist Investments will now be specifically developing products covering all asset classes for a niche section of the market.
“The product set will be aiming to provide a solution for clients through a whole range of different life stages from the wealth creation phase outside super and the accumulation phase in super, retirement solutions, and things like longevity risk and that type of risk management,” van der Westhuyzen said.
He stipulated that this was a move to provide a better service for advisers and not a cost-cutting measure.
“We’re not doing this for the synergies perspective. It’s not about saving costs, it’s about making Macquarie a better provider and more competitive and it’s what advisers have been talking about for the past three years,” van der Westhuyzen said.
