BFG-owned trading platform inks deal for direct indexing solution

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist

27 June 2025

Trading platform and Bell Financial Group (BFG) subsidiary, Desktop Broker, has secured a partnership with investment fintech, Briefcase, to leverage its direct indexing platform for advisers and wholesale investors.

The solution borne out of the partnership offers an alternative pathway for investors to have direct ownership over their assets while also benefitting from enhanced personalisation, tax efficiency and cost effectiveness, all via a non-custodial platform linked to each investor’s Holder Identification Number (HIN).

Financial advisers will also have access to “institutional-grade exchange traded fund (ETF) model portfolios” for their clients, significantly expanding the scope of portfolio diversification.

“Briefcase is changing the way advisers build portfolios – giving them institutional-grade tools, true personalisation, and full investor ownership,” Josh Persky, founder and CEO of Briefcase, said.

“This partnership allows us to scale that value further, breaking down the custodial barriers that have held back innovation in wealth management. We’re making sophisticated, customised portfolios available to a much wider audience – giving advisers powerful tools to deliver more value to their clients.

“Our focus is on building what the investor community not only needs today, but will demand in the future, and this partnership enables us to provide our unique services to a wider range of customers with increasingly diverse needs.”

Briefcase and Desktop Broker confirmed portfolios can be customised to accommodate each client’s individual investment goals, across values, ESG indicators and optimisation for tax.

“Briefcase’s technology is an excellent addition to Desktop Broker’s HIN-based platform,” Craig Saunders, Group Head of Sales at Desktop Broker, said.

“Together, we’re giving advisers more choice in how they build and manage portfolios – offering advisers and clients the transparency, efficiency, and control they expect from a modern wealth solution.”

Desktop Broker’s platform now serves over 4,500 advisers, accessing research, support for investment decisions, stock market updates and information on trade execution.