Aviva’s revolutionary new Separately Managed Account (SMA) has attracted close to $10 million in investment after only six weeks on the market.

Launched last month, Aviva’s SMA has been placed on the approved product list of more than 20 dealergroups with more than 50 financial advisers having placed client funds across the eight model portfolios on offer.

Aviva’s SMA is the first to be integrated through a wrap platform and the first to be offered to retail superannuation investors.

“Advisers are recognising the enormous potential of the SMA for so many of their clients. This early interest demonstrates the confidence advisers have in the SMA,” Aviva’s Distribution Development Manager, Stuart Fechner said.

Throughout October Aviva will reach over 2,000 advisers giving them the opportunity to learn more about the SMA at Aviva’s national roadshow which has been touring 15 venues around the country and continues until the end of this month. 

The roadshow will be followed by a series of SMA Masterclasses around the country to be held during the next few months. These are to help advisers understand the nuts and bolts of the SMA, how it can be used for different types of clients and how it can be blended into a portfolio, along with the opportunity for advisers to meet some of the model managers.

“We have received very positive feedback from advisers who are confident the SMA will be suitable for many of their clients,” he said.

“The SMA is appealing in a number of ways – its transparency which enables investors to clearly see the shares they are invested in, its low cost and the expertise of the fund managers which investors can choose to manage their model portfolios.”   

Aviva’s SMA is the first available to superannuation investors while still meeting the needs of those investors with pensions, managing their own self-managed super funds and seeking to build wealth.

Investors can choose from eight model portfolios managed by five professional fund managers – Ausbil Dexia Limited, Aviva Investors, Goldman Sachs JBWere Asset Management, Perennial Investment Partners and UBS Global Asset Management - who provide a broad range of options to suit different investment needs.

Financial adviser Bill McGee describes Aviva's SMA as, "…a managed fund with all the windows open so you can really see what’s inside." 

Mr McGee, who runs Woodland McGee Financial Services, in Melbourne's East Ivanhoe, invested into the SMA on behalf of several of his clients within a few weeks of the launch.
 
"They are very practical to use, as easy as a managed fund. The transparency is the appeal.  I like our clients to see their share ownership, to know what they own. Hopefully they will become more interested in their investments when they hear something about the shares they own in the media and start to follow them more. 

"We use Australian shares in every portfolio and this is an easy, more transparent and lower cost way to access them. I think the majority of Australian investors could benefit from an SMA for their Australian share exposure.” 

- ends –

Stuart Fechner and Bill McGee are available for interview.

For more information

Ariana Kim
Public Relations
Phone: (03) 9829 8985
Mobile: 0409 187 487 

Sue Voglis
Research & Public Relations Manager
Phone: (03) 9829 8057
Mobile: 0408 309 247