Frontier has announced a strategic development we believe will set our firm apart from other consultants in the institutional advice market. The launch of the Partners Platform will see investors gain access to the tools, research and intellectual property of Frontier to complete their own research and analysis.
The Frontier Partners Platform is a suite of proprietary, analytical tools and research databases that Frontier Consultants use in their analysis and advice. Now Frontier clients, and other subscribers, will be able to access this consulting platform through a secure online portal. The Platform’s package of interactive systems is modular, allowing subscribers to choose which tools and research they wish to use, and even to assign varying levels of access within their internal teams. Further development of the Platform will be based on client preferences and feedback, with a number of components specifically focussed on providing technology for clients to run their own investment functions.
The Platform includes Frontier’s manager and investment research plus client research and compliance tools (Mercury), a portfolio modelling and analytics tool (Prism), a real assets analytics system (RADIAS), and a “still under construction” library of publically sourced general research articles, tools and papers (Reading Room).
The recent increase in internal capability across the investment industry, especially within the larger superannuation fund investors, teamed with stronger regulatory demands, has changed the landscape for consultants and the type of advice and services investors now seek from them. We believe Frontier is the first of the consulting firms to genuinely re-shape the consulting model for working collaboratively with investors.
By opening access to our internal systems and research and providing real-time and interactive information and modelling tools, we will increase the level of collaboration with clients and as a result clients will be involved in developing new products and services in partnership with us.
Frontier Chairman, Gabriel Szondy, explained: “The environment for investors has evolved rapidly in recent years, particularly for superannuation funds, and so investment advisory firms have needed to re-shape their businesses to face the changing requirements of their clients. That requires more than a tweak or a refinement of existing programs, but rather a fundamental shift in the way advisors and investors interact.
“At Frontier, we believe two elements will be at the heart of the evolution the market seeks. First, is an increase in the role technology can play and, second, is the desire for investment teams to deepen their role in the structuring and operation of their portfolios. The Partners Platform is the nexus of those two ideas through an approach to share, rather than guard, insights and systems.”
At a time when many in the industry have expressed concern over the future role of asset consultants, Frontier have stepped up capital expenditure in what we believe is a key differentiator for the firm.
Mr Szondy notes that: “As an independent and specialist investment advisor, Frontier funds its own operations purely from advisory revenue. The Board has approved management’s proposals to invest significantly in the development of the Partners Platform, and did so with great confidence in the underlying strategic thinking and deep understanding of the superannuation market within the firm, and amongst Frontier Directors.
“The business has been enjoying strong growth and we believe this new and path-breaking approach to collaborative consulting will deliver further and genuine benefits both for our clients and the firm itself.”
