Netwealth has entered into an agreement to provide Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Australia with a platform solution for ASX-listed equities and domestic investments.
Morgan Stanley is the first major client Netwealth has secured as part of its expansion into the stockbroking and private wealth market, which the company described as an “addressable opportunity of approximately $600 billion” in an ASX statement.
Per the statement, the “tailored and streamlined” offering includes:
- A single execution and administrative platform solution
- Access to a curated list of investments, including ASX-listed securities, managed accounts, managed funds, cash and term deposits
- Consolidated portfolio, performance and tax reporting
- White-labelled mobile, web and reporting for Morgan Stanley advisers and clients
- Integration with Netwealth’s proprietary individual holder identification number (iHIN) capability
Netwealth executive general manager – private wealth and private banking Lindsay Coates said the new offering “supports a wider range of advice and private wealth models whilst maintaining strong governance and operational discipline.”
“This agreement demonstrates the strength of our technology, people and service model, and underscores the relevance of the Netwealth platform to an attractive and growing segment of the advice market,” she added.
Commenting on the agreement, Netwealth chief executive Matt Heine said: “We are pleased to announce the expansion of our relationship with Morgan Stanley, which reflects the deliberate, multi -year investment we have made to extend our product and platform capabilities in a highly scalable way.”
Heine continued: “The investment has underpinned the continued development of our product offering, including the delivery of Netwealth private and individual HIN capability, alongside a platform designed to deliver scale, digital enablement, and a high-quality client experience that supports our adviser clients and their growth.”
Heine had previously flagged Netwealth’s ambition to “accelerate” the firm’s private wealth market share in a full-year results webinar from August last year. At the time, he said that targeting the “affluent adviser” market was a key component of Netwealth’s growth strategy.
He did clarify, however, that Netwealth wouldn’t abandon its existing client base in the process.
“[It’s] really important to understand that we are not biased; we’re not leaning towards one or the other. We are making sure that we build solutions for the affluent adviser and also the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth,” he said.
