Nikko opens GoalsGetter platform to financial advisers

The platform is designed for customers with smaller nest eggs. Photo / Getty Images

Nikko Asset Management NZ has opened up its year-old direct-to-consumer GoalsGetter platform to financial advisers as a more cost-efficient way to provide advice to new savers or clients with smaller nest eggs.

The platform acts as a feeder into a range of eight Nikko KiwiSaver funds and 14 other existing Nikko funds from cash or bonds through to balanced or growth funds. They can also gain access to other managers including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and disruption specialist Ark Invest.

The minimum upfront investment is $250 with monthly commitments of $20 or more.

The move is aimed at "making investment accessible to as many people as possible," Nikko managing director George Carter told BusinessDesk.

"It's a trade-off between making sure it's a robust, fit-for-purpose tool, but it doesn't necessarily have to have all the functionality of a more developed option," Carter said.

The platform has built-in robo-advice and provides projections and reference material and advisers can tailor investment to suit a client's individual risk appetite and circumstances.

Since it was launched, GoalsGetter has fed a modest amount of about $10 million into Nikko's funds, although the pace has picked up since it starting providing advisers with access, he said.

That's in the context of Nikko's about $6 billion in funds under management – depending on market volatility – of which about 75 percent or 80 percent is wholesale and most of the rest through advisers.

Fee options

The adviser can choose to either charge clients up front or a percentage of funds invested, which the platform will facilitate on a daily basis as well as giving advisers access to their clients' accounts so they can monitor progress.

Carter said it's up to each adviser how much they charge, typically between 25 and 50 basis points, except for the KiwiSaver funds where advisers' fees are capped at 25 basis points.

Given that clients can sign up directly, why would they choose to go through advisers that would take a cut of their savings?

"It depends on whether you want that relationship with an adviser," Carter said. Nikko doesn't provide financial planning services so it can't give advice itself.

"In a time of economic uncertainty, it's natural for people to want to seek professional advice about where to put their money," he said.

"What we're finding is for advisers providing clients with multiple services, GoalsGetter is one option. There's no platform fee so it's cost-effective for advisers," he said.

And advisers would charge fees irrespective of the investment platforms they use.

One scenario of how the platform could be useful for an adviser is if they provide comprehensive financial planning to parents who want to get their children started with saving and the adviser can provide that through the GoalsGetter platform, Carter said.

- BusinessDesk