The past week has seen dual plays in the digital advice space with providers pivoting towards the financial planning market.
Otivo announced this week it was expanding its service to enter the financial advice sector, having previously announced partnerships with super funds such as Colonial First State and NESS Super last year.
The partnership with CFS intended to assist the fund in delivering a personalised digital advice solution for CFS FirstChoice members who no longer had an adviser.
On Wednesday, rival digital advice provider moneyGPS announced it is partnering with the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals to expand access to digital financial advice.
MoneyGPS will offer its service the AIOFP membership which claims 120 AFSL members and their respective 5000 advisers.
The partnership offers single topic advice starting at under $100 a topic, delivered under the moneyGPS AFSL, helping the association’s members deliver a fully digital or hybrid-advice service to their clients.
The expansion caters for specific client groups including non-advised clients with low balances, insurance only and younger members such as millennials.
The pivot comes after MoneyGPS sought to court more super funds as clients, in light of impending obligations for funds to provide more guidance to members due to the Retirement Income Covenant.
A similar business change was made by Advice Intelligence after it was acquired by GBST following the former’s financial troubles, with robo-adviser peer Six Park closing its service around the same time.
GBST had traditionally been a provider of technology to super funds, wrap platforms, fund managers and custodians, but the acquisition would help leverage Advice Intelligence’s service to the institutional market amid growing expectations that super funds provide more advice and improve member experience.
In January, AMP announced a partnership with Bravura to launch the Retirement Health Check.
The digital tool provides members with an online advice journey to find out when they can access super, how much is enough to retire and an estimate of their income in retirement.
In February, UniSuper announced a partnership with Ignition Advice to launch a new digital advice platform which will be rolled out from June.
The fund said it was the first partnership of its kind in Australia and would provide members with accessible, affordable personal advice, at scale, covering superannuation, insurance and investments options.
