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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Macquarie Adviser Services has enhanced its term deposit offering for advisers as the investment option grows in popularity among self managed superannuation funds.
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The updates to functionality come as research from the April 2012 Investment Trends Self Managed Super Investor Report confirms that a third of SMSFs intend to invest in term deposits in the next 12 months – up from 27 per cent in 2011.
The enhancements focus on driving efficiencies for financial planners through the introduction of an online maturities capability and datafeed improvements. These updates will help to streamline the administration required in managing the term deposit component of clients’ investment portfolios.
The online maturities capability allows advisers to provide term deposit maturity instructions online on behalf of their clients, including the amount to be reinvested and the new investment term from one month to five years.
A choice of flexible interest options is available online, including monthly, quarterly, half yearly, annually or at maturity. This is particularly useful for advisers with SMSF clients who are looking to create a regular fixed income stream.
The term deposit datafeed enhancements also help improve efficiency by enabling advisers to easily download their clients’ term deposit account details, balances and transactions into their financial planning, accounting or SMSF software. The datafeeds now include interest frequency, maturity dates and interest payment instructions. This will provide greater visibility of clients’ cash portfolios for advisers, particularly those with SMSF clients, by having information on interest and maturity dates available to view in one place.
Peter Forrest, Head of Cash Product, Macquarie Adviser Services, said these updates deliver simple yet effective enhancements to Macquarie’s broad range of cash management solutions, especially for SMSFs.
“Managing term deposit maturities can be a laborious process for both advisers and their clients, with the traditional process requiring significant paperwork in a limited timeframe,” Mr Forrest said.
“By introducing an online capability and enabling clients to allow their adviser to manage instructions on their behalf, we have reduced the time burden on both parties, simplifying the whole maturities process.
“Similarly, the term deposit datafeed enhancements provide greater integration with software which helps streamline processes, allowing advisers to spend less time on administration and more time on delivering value through advice.”
