Printer Friendly Version

• Make services more affordable and accessible to a broader range of clients;
• Offer the by-products of our development programs to all clients;
• Maintain a flexible set of modular services for clients to select from; and
• Fund further improvements to our range of services.

• Most service providers do not plan or budget for service, process and product innovation. They do not recognise the benefits of planning for innovation.
• Many rely on commissions or volume-based fees to earn their revenue and generally, the bigger the portfolio value, the bigger their income. So smaller investors are less profitable to them.
• It’s easier to charge higher fees than to find ways to reduce the cost of service. Most service providers are content to “re-package” their existing services, than adopt new methods.
• Higher income earners are more willing to pay for “bells and whistles” that they may not need.

• Discount services by bundling them into packages;
• “Budget” grade services, such as limited scope of advice;
• Educational resources – newsletters, seminars, calculators, internet access; and
• Do-It-Yourself (DIY), general advice or non-advisory resources.

• Reliability;
• Variety;
• Convenience;
• Flexibility; and
• Affordability.

1. Registering clients for internet access, newsletters, scheduled reports and administration.
2. Establishing accounts for trading, administration and record management.
3. Preparation and Lodgement of product applications and related administration.

1. Internet access to personal account details.
2. Internet, e-mail and fax access to trading of Australian shares, listed securities and managed funds.
3. Internet, e-mail, fax and postal access to extensive research information from multiple sources. See the WERCS section for a detailed description.
4. Internet access to portfolio holdings and reports such as:
   1. comprehensive portfolio valuations;
   2. income reports (including franking, imputation credits);
   3. realised & unrealised capital gains reports;
   4. investment performance reports.
5. Quarterly Newsletters distributed via internet, e-mail, fax or post.

6. Quarterly portfolio snapshots and consolidated reports via e-mail, fax or post.
7. Data entry of financial transactions, income and expenses.
8. Electronic CD-ROM archive and records of all documents (Statements, Invoices, Reports etc.). This safeguards the information and can alleviate the need for paper copy storage.
9. Annual Taxation Return Preparation and Lodgement *. For conditions, please read “SCOPE OF FIXED-FEE TAX SERVICE” below. Full Service Review Formal Review of an investment strategy is only included in the Full service package.
10. Quarterly Portfolio Review to re-balance investments if necessary.
11. Annual formal review of financial position, including:
    1. changes to investment strategies,
    2. debt consolidation or mortgage rate reductions;
    3. tax minimisation; and
    4. refinement of previous recommendations.

• An individual, resident PAYG Salary or Wage earner. Subscribers can obtain discounted tax services for related entities (companies, trusts, partnerships and self-managed super funds).
• Additional members of clients’ immediate family who satisfy these criteria can also obtain the same tax service for an additional, fixed-fee per person of $100 (plus GST).
• Up to 3 bank accounts (Cash/CMT, Savings & Cheque).
• 1 credit card (deductible work/business expenses).
• 1 share trading account (CHESS Broker Sponsored), multiple listed holdings.
• 1 equity margin loan account.
• Up to 5 investment accounts (distinct wraps, master trusts, savings plans, managed funds).
• Up to 3 investment properties (the advisor assists to prepare depreciation schedules).

• Register our Client Services address (available from the contact us page) as the postal address for the respective accounts and our Client Services department can copy the documents and forward the original to clients’ mailing address within 2 business days of receiving them.
• Upon receipt of each document send a copy to our Client Services department and retain the original document until the annual CD-ROM archive is received (as part of the annual review).

• The monetary cost of a DIY approach can be lower;
• Individuals may desire more frequent contact or level of service that exceeds advisor capacity; and
• Hence, some believe that DIY gives them a greater degree of control.

• Limits on one’s ability to keep informed of changes in the products, economy and legislation;
• Non-professionals are generally more reactive, than proactive and could miss some opportunities;
• Difficulty accessing the quality of research and expert advice that professional advisers use;
• Limited access, or increased lead-time for ad hoc advisory or administrative support;
• Limited access to discount transactions (brokerage, reporting, tax returns);
• Limited access to Initial Public Offerings (IPO/floats);
• Increased costs and complexity for administration services (eg. tax returns);
• Inability to properly assess the impact of investment decision on one’s tax obligations, right to social security, estate value and basic legal implications.

• commit sufficient time to read the necessary research information (in summary form at least);
• monitor their investments diligently; and
• act promptly to respond to changes in products, prices, markets and their own circumstances.

1. Identify a suitable portfolio profile to match the investor’s objectives and risk tolerance.
2. Utilise research information to recommend individual products to fill the portfolio profile.
3. Apply appropriate systems to trade in financial products.
4. Regularly monitor the performance of the selected products and read research information to ensure that the portfolio remains consistent with the profile adopted in step 1 above.
   • Where a change in overall strategy is required, then an advisor should be consulted.
   • If the change relates to individual products, then repeat step 2 with respect to those products.
5. Satisfy legislative requirements for reporting income and capital gains.

• Formal, introductory investment process instruction and training.
• Expert recommendations defining “Model Portfolios”.
• Access to a broad range or detailed research and recommendations from expert analysts.
• Broker trading account facilitating purchases and sales.
• Portfolio reporting, news and alerts to monitor holdings.
• Administration facilities to assist in preparing taxation returns.

• Up to 25% discount on brokerage rates (reduced from $32.95 to $24.50 per trade).
• Instructional tutorial in our Investment Process.
  • This teaches investors to use the various DIY resources to apply the investment process.
• Extended set of independent research. Access up to 4 separate providers and dozens of analysts’ recommendations in a summary format - see the WERCS Report section below.
• Detailed analyst reports for selected shares (alternate providers limit the level of detail).

• Clients can submit orders and correspond without needing internet access – post, e-mail, fax.
• Assistance in analysis for Investor Classification and Model Portfolio selection.
• Client Services perform key administrative tasks and data entry to reduce clients’ workload.
• Considerable discount on preparation & lodgement of annual tax returns for immediate family.

• research limitations,
• limits to the precision of statistical valuation techniques, and
• diminished objectivity due to commercial interests and influences.

• frequency and scope of coverage (number of products covered and how often),
• quality of the analysis (how often does the analyst “get it right”),
• independence (the analyst or their employer holds no interest in the recommended product), and
• scope of influence (how many investor are likely to follow the recommendations).

DIY Resource Comparison
Click on the following link to see a table that shows the various resource attributes that make up our DIY toolset.

Click here to view the table