News - March 7th, 2016
Media Release | Infocus Announces Direct-to-Consumer Financial Advice Solution
by Infocus
In an Australian first, Infocus Wealth Management (Infocus), a leading non-aligned wealth manager, will launch a direct-to-consumer advice solution in May this year. The advice solution will incorporate the Morningstar Wealth Forecasting Engine and investment management services from Ibbotson Associates Australia, part of the Morningstar Investment Management group.
The Wealth Forecasting Engine is a dynamic simulator that projects an investor’s future wealth and provides savings rate, retirement age, and asset allocation recommendations for all life stages. The Wealth Forecasting Engine is designed to help users better understand estimated savings and retirement expenses, including the probability of achieving their goals in different market conditions. Assets invested through Infocus’ direct-to-consumer advice solution will be invested in separately managed accounts offered by Ibbotson Associates Australia.
Rod Bristow, Managing Director of Infocus Wealth Management, said: “This initiative is a continuation of our innovative approach, delivering financial advice that helps improve the lives of Australians from all walks of life. In addition to outcomes from consumer-driven inputs that can be provided anywhere, anytime, Infocus’ direct advice solution will be part of our overall offer supporting consumers seeking financial advice. Our direct advice solution will reduce barriers to taking action, delivering the freedom of a better financial life with just a few clicks,” he said.
“The way it works is that based on user inputs, the Wealth Forecasting Engine projects a client’s future wealth and provides savings rate, retirement age, and asset allocation recommendations for all life stages. Clients can then choose to manage their own investments, or seek advice from one of our nearly 200 highly qualified and experienced financial advisers around the country. This not only gives clients flexibility about how they want to engage with financial advice, it also means Infocus advisers will benefit from direct consumers who may also need more personalised financial advice at some point in the future,” Bristow said.
Heather Brilliant, CFA, Chief Executive Officer of Morningstar Australasia, said: “We’re pleased to be working with an innovative wealth management group such as Infocus, which is committed to using technology to help investors improve their financial future. The deployment of the Wealth Forecasting Engine will enable Infocus’ clients to more clearly formulate their financial and retirement savings goals and determine how they can more effectively work towards achieving them. They’ll also benefit from the expertise of our investment management group.”
For more information, contact
Rod Bristow, Managing Director, Infocus Wealth Management, 1300 463 628
About Infocus Wealth Management
Infocus (www.infocus.com.au) is an independently-owned national wealth management group delivering financial advice, funds management, and technology solutions. The group has operations in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia and provides financial advice to over 55,000 clients. In addition, Infocus directly manages eight sector-specific multi-manager funds through subsidiary Alpha Fund Managers, and licenses proprietary CRM and practice management software to support advisers with efficiently managing their business to deliver compliant financial advice.
About the Morningstar Investment Management Group and Morningstar, Inc.
The Morningstar Investment Management group, through its advisory subsidiaries, creates investment solutions that combine award-winning research and global resources with proprietary Morningstar data. With USD$180 billion in assets under advisement and management at 31 December 2015, the Investment Management group provides comprehensive, retirement, investment advisory, and portfolio management services for financial institutions, plan sponsors, and advisers around the world. In Australia, Ibbotson Associates Australia, Ltd., provides these services. Ibbotson Associates Australia is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on more than 510,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has operations in 27 countries.
