CFS launches intl SMAs on advice portal

Advisers and clients of Colonial First State’s (CFS’s) integrated advice platform Edge will gain access to new suite of international managed accounts, CFS has announced.

Edge users will now have access to funds from global equity managers T.Rowe Price, CBRE Investment Management, ClearBridge, and Lazard Asset Management.

“These new options give advisers and their clients easy direct access to global markets while benefiting from the efficiency of a managed account structure,” said CFS group executive, distribution Bryce Quirk.

CFS executive director of managed accounts Frances Taylor also welcomed the introduction of the international signature managed accounts on the platform, which she said would “cut through the complexity of international equity trading”.

Advisers will also be able to transact and invest in twelve currencies, with the inclusion of “innovative currency wallet technology”.

Expansion of the Accelerate Series on the Edge platform also sees the addition of new portfolio managers AZ Sestante, InvestSense and Mercer, and the introduction of 21 new managed accounts.

The Accelerate Series is promoted as a full-service managed account solution, blending “low-cost solutions with sophisticated investment options in a single account”.

“CFS Edge”, Quirk added, “was designed with managed accounts at its core.”

Following the menu expansion, CFS Edge now boasts more than more than 150 managed account offerings, with over $14 billion is invested in managed accounts across CFS’s Edge and FirstChoice platforms.