Insignia adds five new SMAs to its leading wrap platform

Insignia Financial has added five new Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) to its flagship wrap platform, Expand, as it successfully progresses its migration from legacy MLC platforms at pace.

Five new investment managers – BlackRock, DNR Capital, Elston, Lonsec and Zenith – have been added to Expand’s ‘Extra’ menu, nearly doubling the number of SMAs now available on the platform.

They join existing investment managers MLC Asset Management, Antares, Ausbil, JBWere, Pendal, Perennial and Zurich on the leading wealth management platform.

With the addition of the five new sign-ups, Expand Extra now boasts a total of 12 investment managers and 64 SMAs, offering both multi-asset and single-sector options, as well as more than 500 managed funds, listed shares, term deposits and fixed-term annuities and other investment options.

Expand also enables licensees to customise SMA models, enabling them to build and house their own SMAs on the platform.

Launched in 2019 and built by Insignia Financial (formerly IOOF), the Expand platform now counts more than 210,000 client accounts and $75 billion in FUA, spruiked as one of the largest wraps in Australia’s wealth sector.

Insignia Financial’s general manager wrap solutions and product integration Cable Rickard welcomed the expanded SMA menu, which he said would enable advisers and licensee groups “to efficiently provide, high quality investment solutions for clients”.

He added: “The continued growth of Expand’s offering, driven by our proprietary technology, demonstrates our commitment to providing ongoing enhancements to both our platform and products to deliver investment solutions with greater efficiencies, lower cost and better outcomes.”

The addition of the five new SMAs follows Insignia’s successful migration in April of more than 94,000 client accounts, worth $38.6 billion, from the MLC Wrap, MLC Navigator, and associated offers, to Expand. The migration has been promoted as “the largest single wrap migration in the Australian platform industry”.

The migration comes following Insignia’s acquisition of MLC in 2021 from NAB.

Insignia said that more than 98% of migrated clients will benefit from fee reductions.