New fintech fills the void of efficiency and independence for managed accounts

MA Operator, a brand new technology for financial advisers, launched in Sydney today.

The firm provides three different services on the same comprehensive platform and low-cost model:

• A complete service for managed discretionary accounts (MDAs), including risk and compliance management, which replaces numerous systems and processes advisers currently need to use to offer MDAs to clients
• A complete solution for managed accounts and direct portfolios delivered under the Statement of Advice model; and
• Software and services for external MDA Operators looking to improve efficiency and scale.

MA Operator allows advisers to manage client investments far more easily, removing cost and administration time from a range of processes currently managed under numerous systems. The software enables advisers to set up, execute and monitor direct portfolios in a fraction of the time they can currently.

The software is also independent, providing users with the flexibility to implement any model or asset allocation and tailor each client portfolio to their particular preferences. Choice of bank, broker, customer relationship management system and advice tools remains in the hands of the adviser or dealer group.

MA Operator co-founder, Brett Westbrook, said MA Operator had been developed over the past two years to address specific pain points for advisers managing investments on clients’ behalf.

“Dealer groups currently use several different systems for portfolio construction, rebalancing, compliance and reporting administration,” he said. “Many of the processes involve manual administration which take up big chunks of time without adding any value to the client. MA Operator automates the complete workflow inside one elegant system that then connects directly to the market. It even allows dealer groups to execute client trades in bulk when rebalancing portfolios, saving time and giving fairer outcomes to clients.”

Shannon Bernasconi, co-founder MA Operator, said removing inefficiencies and providing a sophisticated and independent service, was the primary goal.

“Fintech generally is brilliant at removing needless complexity and inefficiency, wherever it’s applied. Fintech generally also gives more choice and value to the end client for a lower cost” she said. “In applying this approach to the managed account space we have developed a product and provider agnostic service that saves dealer groups money, and gives them more power to construct portfolios that will demonstrate real value to their clients.”

The system also provides compliance benefits by ensuring regulatory requirements are met at each step in the process, with automated client communication built in to the workflow. In many cases this removes the need for paper-based communication, and in all cases MA Operator maintains a complete audit trail of correspondence.

MA Operator also provides graphical performance and analytics so advisers can easily demonstrate portfolio performance and asset selection to clients. The secure, web based software is very simple to implement and cost effective. Its suite of services are available separately, or together as a complete solution.