Panorama ups ante on admin fees with new menu

Westpac’s BT Panorama platform has upped the ante on fee competition at the same time as introducing a new investment menu option labelled “Focus”.

The platform business has written to advice licensees telling them that the new Focus menu is designed for “clients whose investment needs can be met by a limited menu with a lower platform administration fee”.

The message to licensees said the new investment menu would be “offering a selection of managed portfolios and managed funds, with a significantly lower platform administration than our existing menus”.

It said the menu will offer a selection of managed portfolios and managed funds also available on the full and compact menus with administration fees comprising:

• an account based administration fee of $60 p.a. and
• an asset based administration fee of 0.15% p.a. up to balances of $1m (excluding the balance in the transaction account), subject to a minimum of $50 p.a.

It said all other platform fees and costs will be the same as the Full and Compact menu options.

“Clients will be able to in–specie transfer between the Focus, Compact and Full menus as their investment needs change, provided they continue to hold the same investments,” the message to licensees and advisers said.

It said the Focus menu will be available from 1 October and said that advisers will be able to compare the new menu with the Compact and Full menus in an updated disclosure document available from 31 July.

The message also said that, given the continued growth in managed portfolios, BT Panorama would from 1 October be expanding the number of managed portfolios available on the Compact menu to approximately 130.

It said that Panorama would be sending clients a Significant Event Notice between 31 July and 8 August letting them know what the changes involve and what it means for them.