Forum Topics NWL NWL Understanding the NWL Platform

Pinned straw:

Added a month ago

I have a totally embarassing question to ask help on. Can anyone point me to a writeup or diagram which succintly describes what exactly the NWL platform does/manages/provides??

I have poked around Google, the NWL site, went through the Annual Report, looked at the marketing videos, read some of the PDS' but I am still struggling to clearly understand the products and services that are offered on the NWL platform. While some of the content talks about the capability and scope of the product, there is a lot of sales-y speak overlayed and a lot of ghee whizz "IT platform/reporting/data benefits" but I am still struggling to clearly understand what each product actually does for a customer or an wealth advisor. The products I have understood thus far, which is half-coherent:

  1. Self-Super: this is an end-to-end SMSF management/administration service akin to eSuperfund, which is my SMSF provider.
  2. Super Accelerator: provides the capability to invest in various products - managed funds, term deposits, fixed term annuities - there is a Super Accelerator Plus which provides more investment options
  3. Wealth Accelerator Multi-Asset Portfolio Service Guide - a single account which allows you to buy, hold and sell various investments
  4. Managed Account: access to a range of professionally managed investment portfolio's, which I gather you can invest in from either Super Accelerator or Wealth Accelerator
  5. Global Specialist Series Funds (GSS Funds) for NWL GSS Managed Models
  6. I gather it has a Share Brokerage
  7. NWL is also a Superannuation Fund in its own right, similar to Aust Super, HESTA etc


I am actually thinking of ringing NWL tomm and booking a demo and asking them to help me understand the platform.

For context, NWL has been a complete coffee-can investment for me. I bought the position based on the MFPro 1 recommendation back in 2018 and other than happily collecting dividends, have done absolutely nothing on NWL. That blind faith in old Joe and Matt was not misplaced, as by then, they were a proven winning team, and I had no doubt that they had done the detailed research to come up with a long-term winner.

NWL has now become my 2nd largest position (after the ALU sale, AD8 crash etc), returning 182%, proving that there absolutely IS merit in the coffee-can approach and that the less one tinkers with a position, the better the outcome.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Disc: Held IRL with total ignorance ...

thunderhead
a month ago

You seem to have got it pretty much @jcmleng.

I don't own (sadly), though it has spent a lot of time on my watchlist. I also get torn between owning NWL and HUB (I know I can own both, but prefer not to spread myself too thin).

Any holders with well-formed views on comparing the two businesses? HUB has been a great performer too, though I am personally attracted to the high insider ownership of NWL.

Also, 100% agree the coffee-can approach works great, as long as you include the right "valuables" in the coffee can to begin with :)

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mikebrisy
a month ago

@jcmleng - your description is pretty good.

So not sure if this is any help to you, but I asked my BA (perplexity.ai) to see if they could help you. Here's what they came back with - seem reasonably clear to me.

Netwealth is an Australian financial services and technology company that provides wealth management solutions. Founded in 1999, it has grown to become one of the fastest-growing wealth management businesses in Australia.Key Products and


Services

  1. Netwealth offers a range of products and services, including:Superannuation Funds: Netwealth provides superannuation products like Netwealth Super Accelerator and Russell Investments Super Series.
  2. Investment Platforms: The company offers investment wrap platforms such as Netwealth Wealth Accelerator, which allow investors to manage their portfolios.
  3. Managed Accounts: Netwealth provides managed account services for investors seeking professional portfolio management.
  4. Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) Administration: The company offers administration services for SMSFs.
  5. Funds Management: Netwealth manages its own funds, including the Netwealth Global Specialist Series Funds.


Functionality

Netwealth's platforms are designed to provide users with:

  • A wide range of investment options
  • Sophisticated online tools for portfolio management
  • Customization options for advisers to tailor solutions for their clients
  • Comprehensive reporting and administration services


Target Customers

  1. Netwealth serves two main customer segments:Financial Advisers: The company provides solutions for over 3,500 advisers, offering them tools to manage their clients' portfolios efficiently.
  2. Individual Investors: Netwealth also caters directly to individuals, helping them take control of their financial future through its range of superannuation and investment products.


Netwealth's focus on technology and customer service has earned it high ratings from customers and industry analysts, positioning it as a leading fintech company in the Australian wealth management sector.

If this, and the company website doesn't do it for you, then - yes - maybe give the company a call!


Disc: Not held (sadly)


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BoredSaint
a month ago

This is what I believe NWL does in simple terms.

Imagine you are a high net worth individual and want to manage your wealth. Historically you would contact a financial planner who would likely work for one of the big 4 banks and they would direct you to invest into their linked platform (Colonial, BT etc). However since the royal commission, many financial planners and advisors are now no longer working under the big 4 banks and have become individual entities. These advisors and planners need a way for their clients to invest their funds. This is where the Wealth Platforms come in (NWL, HUB, Praemium etc).

NWL allows an easy platform for wealth managers to allocate their clients funds with access to a wide range of products without being stuck to only products that were offered by the legacy platforms. Eg. If you were with Westpac, you were stuck with BT products (I think! Based on my memory of when my dad was working as a planner for Westpac). NWL collect a fee for offering this service as well as collect interest on cash held on the platform.

The investment angle is that as more funds migrate out of these legacy platforms, the wealth platforms will gain more FUM which in terms will increase their revenue and profits.

Feel free to correct me if I've gotten this all wrong.

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jcmleng
a month ago

Thanks @mikebrisy . This helps and is very much aligned to what I have gathered from NWL's site etc.

I am still wanting to get a bit more precision so that I can then understand how each, or a combo, of these products drive the various operational metrics and revenue line items, particularly the much talked about Funds Under Adminstration metric. And also how to view the competition's progress ...

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jcmleng
a month ago

Thanks @BoredSaint, this picture is also very useful. I don't have any experience with financial planners and hence, have not been impacted by their bias towards to certain products/platforms and how NWL has changed the game since. Lets not even go down the high net worth path, for which I will never have any experience in ...!

Just quite surprised at the lack of "precision" that makes the value prop and business case for the platform super clear and the heavy use of IT/Data/Portal benefits language ... I probably need to have a look at the Hub24 site to see if there is better clarity and the target customer to compare the competition.

But but then maybe, I am not the target customer from a high net worth and/or wealth advisor perspective. That in itself, is a data point for me.

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actionman
a month ago

I own NWL from Joe/matt advice also. My mate uses netwealth via his advisor who manages his SMSF for him. It’s a bit like CommSec but you can’t actually do any trades yourself, rather the advisor has to do that for you. It also shares things like tax reports for you.

in terms of netwealth versus hub 24, I have read that they are effectively the same solution with different pros and cons but no clear winner. It just depends on what the advisor has signed up to. I think it’s a bit like trying to compare trading platforms. perhaps just own both of them ????

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SebastianG
3 weeks ago

I haven't really looked at this company, but from the above description it sounds like what a product that merges Sharesight and XRO would look like for financial planning. Given the success you've had, just shows you the boring businesses are often the ones that pay off.

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