Colonial First State (CFS) is a diverse superannuation, retirement and investment business that manages and administers over AUD150 billion on behalf of almost one million Australians. The group is passionate about seeing Australians achieve financial freedom. Working with financial advisers is key to reaching this goal.
CFS has deep relationships with financial advisers across Australia and was aware that they were facing tremendous time and resource pressure. Advisers sought tools to improve efficiency, so that they can provide better service to end-investor clients. CFS wanted to build a best-in-class platform for its community of financial advisers. To best address their needs, CFS wanted to co-develop a solution with them.
CFS has built deep relationships with financial advisers over many years. Those relationships have been pivotal to the rapid growth of CFS Edge in such a short space of time. We have built an integrated platform that puts advisers in the driver’s seat.
Kelly Power, Chief Executive Officer Superannuation - Colonial First State
CFS selected FNZ as its technology partner to address this opportunity and ensure the solution provided maximum flexibility and integration. Both CFS and its financial advice partners visited FNZ in the US and UK and were able to experience research, development and innovation that are currently unavailable in their local market.
FNZ and CFS worked in close collaboration to develop CFS Edge, the most contemporary wealth management platform in the Australian market, bringing world-class technology and capability to the Australian financial advice sector.
CFS Edge provides advisers with powerful capabilities not before seen in the Australian market – helping them stay at the frontier of advice. The platform enables digital adviser workflows, advanced data analytics, an integrated app marketplace and analysis tools for licensees, advisers and their clients.
CFS Edge is the first major new platform in the Australian wealth management sector in almost a decade. It utilises the best global wealth management technology and has been uniquely co-developed with financial advisers from the very start.
Kelly Power, Chief Executive Officer Superannuation - Colonial First State
The solution provides seamless integration with preferred technology partners, using open APIs and real-time two-way data integration. CFS Edge provides real-time, two-way integration with financial planning software.
The growth of the platform has been impressive. CFS Edge reached $1 billion in funds under management (FUM) in just 200 business days, significantly outpacing most platform launches in Australia.
Configurable for personalisation and flexibility
CFS Edge uses a modular approach, which is highly configurable to suit individual preferences and business requirements. This enables advisers to deliver more personalised investment solutions to their end-investor clients, accessing a wide range of investment capability and reporting functionality to support client engagement.
Edge advisers and their clients are uniquely positioned to continue benefiting from global expertise, ongoing R&D, and the unparalleled pace of innovation that only comes from global scale coupled with CFS’ deep understanding of the Australian market.
Kelly Power, Chief Executive Officer Superannuation - Colonial First State
Managed accounts are at the core of the platform, which offers advanced modelling tools designed to support deep analysis. This powers advisers with enhanced customization options, allowing more granular portfolio analysis at scale.
CFS Edge gives advisers predictive insights and alerts, enabling them to see new advice and growth opportunities, highlight areas of inefficiency and pre-empt potential issues for their clients. These insights are benchmarked against peers in Australia and globally and can be tailored to different roles including licensee, business owner, adviser, or support staff.
The ability to continually expand the investment menu on Edge while also enhancing the platform based on adviser feedback were instrumental in achieving rapid growth.
With a global partner like FNZ, we have the capability to optimise the platform for advisers while continuing to rollout a packed roadmap of enhancements, from additional functionality and improved user experience to further expansion of the investment menu.
Kelly Power, Chief Executive Officer Superannuation - Colonial First State