InvestmentLink in the Media

InvestmentLink expands leadership team, targets wealth management education Published on 5/6/2017

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest financial data source, is pleased to announce the appointment of Owen Joyce as the company looks to further develop solutions to assist financial planners, accountants, bookkeepers and mortgage brokers better engage with their retail audience.

Owen has two decades of experience in senior sales and general management roles, mainly in the training and education sector, and joins the business as Chief Commercial Officer. He will be using his experience to help InvestmentLink develop CashDeck and other initiatives designed to encourage individuals to better use technology to learn how to manage their money.

"CashDeck can help people effortlessly understand their spending habits and know at any given time what their money is doing. We believe that this simple to use tool can help alleviate some of the financial stress and vulnerability that over 60% of Australians carry with them every day," Joyce said.

CashDeck tracks all user accounts such as banks, credit cards, loans and superannuation. It auto-categorises transactions and provides reporting so that the user knows where every cent of their money is any given time.

"If you've got accounts with more than one financial institution and you'd like a simple way to be smarter with your money, CashDeck is a very effective product," Joyce added.

For partners, CashDeck provides a platform that allows all clients to be easily managed from one, easy to use interface. “Partners can use a white-label CashDeck solution to engage with clients much more regularly. It can even offer new revenue opportunities at times of the year that might typically be considered off-season,” Joyce said.

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said Owen will play an important role in expanding the company’s CashDeck platform. “CashDeck is designed to help planners engage with their clients and prospective clients. Central to this is giving individuals, and their advisers, a real-time understanding of their financial position. We see education as key to improving this relationship, and Owen’s experience developing educational programs will add to the strength of the existing team.”

“As well as the appointment of Owen, InvestmentLink has expanded its sales and marketing team with the appointment of Daniel Henderson as Partner Relationship Manager. Daniel joins Sales Manager Kevin Naing in educating partners in understanding the significant capability the CashDeck platform can bring to their business.

InvestmentLink offers data feeds to support goal-oriented client outcomes Published on 25/5/17

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest financial data source, has integrated its comprehensive investment data feeds into a personal wealth management platform designed to support advisers in delivering clients’ goal-oriented outcomes. The cloud-based platform, CashDeck, is designed for accountants, financial planners, mortgage brokers, tax agents and budget specialists, and hosts a suite of data feeds and other engagement tools.

The fully-customisable platform allows clients to manage all their financial information securely with a single log in. For advisers, it offers a feature-rich platform that allows for deeper insight into client financials—with unlimited opportunities to engage.

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said the platform is designed to help clients understand their financial position in real time and support advisers develop plans to help clients reach specified goals.

“The data we provide offers advisers another analytical level. It’s easy to use and will help advisers better engage with clients and prospective clients. As well as the functionality, advisers can customise the platform - from managing functionality to fully branding the platform to support their businesses.”

“It’s very easy to set up, individual branding of the platform requires no design skills, and advisers can begin inviting clients to use the platform immediately. We have a scaled offering, from free plans to packages to suit larger groups. CashDeck is pre-populated with a series of emails that clients receive. So it’s very easy to manage from the advisers perspective,” Robinson said.

InvestmentLink will continue to add to the product suite, enabling partners to further tailor offerings to specific markets and offer scaled services.

Fintech not meeting adviser needs: InvestmentLink Published on 16/02/2017

The fintech sector has yet to deliver effective tools for the financial planning industry, argues financial data provider InvestmentLink.

In a statement this morning, InvestmentLink said most of the existing fintech is focused on offering solutions to individuals, and struggling to convince consumers to pay directly.

Instead, fintech companies should be focused on satisfying the unmet demand in the financial advice space, said InvestmentLink chief technology officer Wayne Robinson.

“We think that advisers will be happy to pay for a platform that delivers what they actually need. While some products for advisers have been developed, most on the market at the moment have been developed for specific dealer groups, with limited application or adaptability for the wider adviser community,” he said.

“We have been working with financial planners for over 20 years and our clients tell us they are looking for a product that they can integrate into their practices.

They are looking for a product that can cut administrative time and allow them to focus on value-adding advice.”

Mr Robinson added that one of the functionalities that advisers are looking for includes an intuitive usability for both advisers and clients.

“It has to be able to be branded to the adviser’s practice so that the client is interacting with the adviser not just the application, and the ability to share data is crucial,” he said.

“Properly leveraging available data will also allow for proactive client monitoring and enhanced and automated compliance abilities. The platform should be able to deliver notifications to advisers – alerts that the adviser needs to engage with the client.

“A good technology solution will reduce costs and increase efficiencies for both planners and clients.”

InvestmentLink provides My SMSF with data feeds as part of grant program Published on 31/10/2016

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest independent financial data source, today announced that it will provide My SMSF access to its platform of data feeds as the company joins InvestmentLink’s grant program.

My SMSF is a self-managed superannuation service providing administration services, lending and advice to investors in the property market. My SMSF has developed cloud based software for accounting and financial planning practices to allow them to simply manage their SMSF client needs. It delivers SOA templates, insurance and lending referral services and company and deed services.

The grant will give My SMSF access to a feed of financial account and investment fund data at no cost for a period of 18 months.

“Integrating additional data into our offering will allow us to enhance our engagement with clients. Our mission is to provide an integrated offering for all services related to property in super purchases, and these data feeds will strengthen that offering,” said Robert Joseph, Founder and Director of My SMSF / My SMSF Property.

“There are a number of innovators in the SMSF space that are looking to improve services to the sector. We look forward to working with My SMSF as they build a more comprehensive offering for the sector,” said InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson.

InvestmentLink’s grant is being made available to Australian fintech start-ups and will give them access to 600 data feeds. It will include 500 live accounts, with access to test accounts and the InvestmentLink API.

InvestmentLink has been offering data services to the financial services sector for over 20 years. Its data is currently used by over 12,000 financial planners and 200 dealer groups. The InvestmentLink platform holds data on over 4.4 million client accounts with more than $40 billion in funds under management.

Further details about the data grant, and the application process, can be found on our Grant page.

InvestmentLink signs Harmonee as first data grant recipient Published on 18/10/2016

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest independent financial data source, today announced financial planning software developer Harmonee as the first recipient of the company’s data grant. The grant is designed to support emerging companies in the Australian fintech sector and provides access to a feed of financial account and investment fund data at no cost for a period of 18 months.

Harmonee is developing a platform to help financial advisers offer streamlined services to clients. As well as enhancing the advice offering, the platform will provide remote and mobile access to portfolios and reporting.

"Data feeds are vital for us to deliver our solutions. Not only will we be able to offer real-time reporting to clients, data feeds will save us and our clients time and money, and reduce compliance risks significantly," said Harmonee founder Damien Burns.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to gain access to InvestmentLink’s valuable data source.”

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said the company is looking forward to working with Harmonee as it rolls out its offering to the Australian market.

Further details about the data grant, and the application process, can be found on our Grant page.

InvestmentLink provides Midwinter advisers with real-time access to client data Published on 11/10/2016

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest independent financial data source, today announced Midwinter as the first financial planning software company to use the new RealTime (ILRT) data service. ILRT has been specifically developed for the growing fintech sector, providing advisers with enhanced access to client data via their software providers.

ILRT extends the range of data feeds that Midwinter can access, adding client-authorised feeds to the existing 600 direct data feeds already available on the InvestmentLink platform. The expanded data offering, delivered directly into Midwinter’s applications, will allow the Company to offer more holistic and engaging software solutions to its clients.

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said: “We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Midwinter, one of the most innovative financial software providers in the market, and look forward to further contributing to the development of their market-leading financial software offerings.”

“We see ILRT as filling a major gap in the market – access to client-authorised data feeds. Midwinter now has access to data that has been traditionally hard to harness, such as individual bank, mortgage, credit card, loan, term deposit, industry superannuation fund, self-managed superannuation and direct share accounts,” Robinson added.

Speaking of the new offering, Midwinter Managing Director Julian Plummer said: ‘’ILRT will allow Midwinter to add significant value to our product offerings. Planners using AdviceOS now have access to the richest data set of platform and investment information in the industry, and as a result we expect the quality of our planner’s advice to improve.

“Until now, most software providers have been limited in their ability to deliver a complete financial position for their clients. ILTR is the game changer when it comes to this. Crucially, we can now access client-authorised feeds – data that makes up a considerable part of client portfolios.”

ILRT allows Midwinter to provide one single interface for planners to advise on product replacement for adviser-entered platforms, member-entered platforms, traditional data fed platforms and also platforms that have traditionally not provided data feeds to the industry. The ability to capture all of this disparate information in the one application allows advisers to provide a portfolio view of the total client position.

InvestmentLink establishes data grant for emerging fintech companies Published on 2/8/2016

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest independent financial data source, today announced the establishment of a data grant designed to support emerging companies in the Australian fintech sector. The grant will give selected companies access to a feed of financial account and investment fund data at no cost for a period of 18 months.

The grant is being made available to Australian fintech start-ups and will give them access to 600 data feeds. It will include 500 live accounts, with access to test accounts and the InvestmentLink API.

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said the program will provide a significant boost to those companies awarded a grant, and help them demonstrate their value proposition to the market.

“We are excited by what we see in the Australian fintech space. There are a number of emerging companies that have the potential to make a very serious impact on the market and deliver real innovation to consumers. Given the nature of the Australian market, particularly the dominance of the major players, they face a number of challenges—one of them—getting access to sufficient data to be able to demonstrate what they can offer the market.”

“Given the financial constraints that most start-ups face, we are hoping that access to the most comprehensive data feed in Australia at no cost, for a limited period, will provide a real boost.”

InvestmentLink has been offering data services to the financial services sector for over 20 years. It collects data from over 600 funds, platforms, wraps and other accounts. The data is currently used by over 12,000 financial planners and 200 dealer groups. The InvestmentLink platform holds data on over 4.4 million client accounts with more than $40 billion in funds under management.

InvestmentLink developing real-time wealth management compliance product Published on 9/5/2016

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest independent financial data source, today said it is developing a real-time compliance product that will give financial advisers and dealer groups immediate and ongoing compliance reporting. The product, Halcyon, will draw on InvestmentLink’s unique data platform and external data sources to provide advisers with a tool to manage potential issues as they arise.

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said Halcyon will give advisers a complete and ongoing audit of client portfolios, and will do away with the need for onsite periodical or random auditing. “Not only does real-time reporting mitigate potential issues as they arise, it also does away with the expensive and inefficient need for periodical onsite client audits.”

“Halcyon will notify advisers in real time of possible compliance issues, offers “tickets” to action these issues, and monitor the client portfolio on an ongoing basis. For the first time advisers will have access to tools allowing them to address changes in individual client portfolios as they arise. They will not be reliant on the dealer group to manage their risk and compliance.

“If the composition of a client portfolio changes with market and individual product fluctuations, or if a client risk profile shifts due to changing personal situations, Halcyon will alert advisers of remedial actions that may be necessary,” Robinson said.

Halcyon is a data and rule driven system—flagging issues as they arise, giving advisers immediate visibility to potential problems. On top of this, the platform’s ticket delivery system will allow advisers to resolve queries promptly, ensuring ongoing compliance.

“Not only will Halcyon offer a streamlined cost effective compliance solution, it has the potential to end the reputational damage that individual advisers, through error or deliberate action, can inflict on a brand. The platform will not only offer advisers the tools to rectify potential issues as they arise, but for the first time dealer groups can track—in real time—individual advisers and their clients, delivering valuable risk management reporting at the dealer group level as well as to the individual adviser,” Mr Robinson said.

“Clients are demanding ever more sophisticated portfolios. At the same time, regulators continue to focus on compliance problems and are asking license holders to demonstrate stronger oversight of adviser activity. Halcyon will offer our clients a system to proactively monitor and manage client portfolios wherever they are invested,” Mr Robinson said.

Halcyon is being built around InvestmentLink’s unique data platform of over 600 direct and client authorised feeds.

InvestmentLink launches new data service for growing fintech sector Published on 4/4/2016

One of the major challenges facing the emerging Australian fintech sector is the lack of a standardised format for accessing financial data. The complexities of accessing sufficient institutional and client data will be a major limiting factor for many of the fintech companies now trying to establish themselves in the Australian and international markets.

Earlier this month, in its statement on the fintech sector, the Government highlighted the need to increase data availability across the financial service sector, to allow new products and services to be developed and support new offerings made available to the market.

While supporting the Government’s initiative, InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said it needs to go further. “The Government has rightly highlighted the challenges that data access poses for the sector. Its focus, however, remains too narrow, concerned mainly with credit data. There is a wider emerging financial service sector that also needs access to sufficient data to prove its value.”

“The finetch sector as a whole needs better access to a broad range of financial data. Companies across the spectrum face the same challenges, of accessing data in an efficient and cost-effective way.”

“Currently, major financial institutions do not provide generic solutions to allow access to data, they develop one-off solutions for individual companies. This is an expensive process, and one that large institutions are reluctant to do for developing fintech companies, particularly for companies that have yet to develop a significant customer base.”

“The development of standardised access solutions, covering institutional data and allowing clients to authorize third-party access to personal transactional data, would be a major boost for the emerging fintech sector.”

“New fintech products promise to revolutionise how all Australian engage with their most important financial asset, their superannuation. It’s not only the 16% of Australians that currently use a planner that will benefit from better access to data. Better access to superannuation data will open up a whole new category of financial product – improving engagement, improving risk management and ensuring that Australian workers are receiving the most appropriate financial services for their specific circumstances.”

“We have been providing financial data to the market for over 20 years, and would be very happy to work with the Government and industry on developing protocols that would enable more efficient sharing,” Mr. Robinson said.

InvestmentLink believes one option to manage improved access to data could be through the establishment of an independent body charged with ensuring all firms are complying with established protocols.

Standardisation of data access crucial to development of Australian fintech industry Published on 23/3/2016

InvestmentLink, Australia’s largest financial data source, today announced the launch of a new data service specifically developed for the growing fintech sector. InvestmentLinkRT (ILRT) provides software developers an expanded data link directly into their applications, allowing for the development of more holistic and engaging software products.

ILRT extends the range of data feeds already available through the existing InvestmentLink data platform, allowing users access to an unparalleled hybrid data source of over 600 direct and client-authorised feeds.

Client-authorised feeds will be delivered in minutes and will cover feeds that have until now been difficult to obtain, such as individual bank, mortgage, credit card, loan, term deposit, industry superannuation fund, self-managed superannuation and direct share accounts.

InvestmentLink Chief Technology Officer Wayne Robinson said the new service is the first of its type in Australia and fills an important gap in the market.

“Until now Australian software developers have been limited in their ability to integrate the full spectrum of client accounts into their products.

The ILRT service allows the integration of individual client-authorised feeds with the direct institutional feeds they already have access to through InvestmentLink. ”

“Our clients have been seeking access to this level of data for some time and we are pleased now to be able to offer this through an easily integrated feed. Software developers will now be able to enhance existing products and develop richer and more dynamic platforms for their clients. Ultimately, this will give advisers a deeper and more holistic view of client financial data, giving advisers new ways to engage with clients,” Mr. Robinson said.

The ILRT service adds to InvestmentLink’s existing data platform, which provides over 600 direct data feeds to wealth managers, dealer groups, software developers, accountants and tax agents.