The Brooks Macdonald external custody partnership is the first in a planned salvo of such DFM arrangements, which will be distributed through Generali Worldwide’s Professional Portfolio products to IFAs initially in the Middle East and Africa.
Derek Gemmell, regional director Middle East and Africa for Generali Worldwide said: “DFM services are becoming a vital element of any life company’s offering. As well as looking at our policyholder’s needs, we have listened to our intermediary partners and also worked closely with Brooks Macdonald to streamline the application process to make the onboarding process as simple and as fast as possible.”
He added that the life company expected to extend and expand the DFM offering “in the near future”.
Jonathan Mynes, head of adviser solutions, international at Brooks Macdonald said the deal with Generali to offer discretionary investment solutions in a segregated account format held in its custody was “another important step as we enhance our service proposition for advisers and expand the availability of our adviser offering internationally.
“Research shows that a large proportion of advisers’ time is spent on administration and drafting investment reports so our service will offer a quick and efficient way for advisers to complete this work through an accessible platform, giving them more time to spend with existing and potential clients”.
Gemmel added that the main market for the DFM has for a long time been the pension transfer business.
“People don’t want to take risk with their pension assets, and with six risk rated portfolios at our disposal with the track history, it’s very appealing to the adviser and the client. I expect the large majority of assets we bring in throughout the regions where we are licenced will be from this pensions area” , he said.
Click on next page for details of the six risk rated portfolios.
