How a firm runs on the Direct Ownership Engine
What
Owned by
What that means
Discrete Portfolio
Client
Legal ownership, transparency, control
Share trading and bank account in the client’s legal name. Their assets sit there. They can see them, log into them and verify them independently. No custodian between them and their portfolio.
Investment Strategy and branded Model Portfolios
Advice firm
The IP: objective, risk, timeframe, asset allocation ranges
Your firm owns the portfolios and the models behind them, under its own AFSL or authorisation, and is paid a model fee for the work. The models carry your name, not ours.
Client Relationship
Advice firm
Comfort and Control
The adviser owns the relationship, gives the advice and charges their own fee. Client communications go out under your brand.
Discretion and governance
Managed Portfolios
The licence and the responsibility
We hold the client's discretionary authority and we chair the investment committee that ratifies every change before it is implemented, alongside an asset consultant. You own the models. We carry the obligation.
Trading, reporting, mailhouse, corporate actions
Managed Portfolios
The rails
Trading, rebalancing, settlement and corporate actions. Multi-asset reporting across super and non-super. We are the engine room. We do not drive.
For over twenty years the industry has told advisers that their value lies in strategic advice, and that investment management is best left to someone else. It is a convenient idea, and it has been very good for the people who ended up doing the investment management.
More firms are now asking two questions. Why is this the arrangement? And why does the largest fee in it go to the party furthest from the client?
Compare
Standard platform model
Managed Portfolios model
Pooled custodian ownership
Client holds legal title to every asset
No platform layer
Administration and reporting
Administration and reporting
Clipping of interest on cash
No pooled cash account. All interest to client
Product layers
In-house IP or third-party at advice firm’s discretion. No mandatory product layer.
No client directed assets e.g. property, collectibles
Direct property, private credit, collectibles, off-market holdings — all reportable, all monetisable
Migration (Exit Options)
True portability. Client keeps the same accounts whether they stay or leave
Three modes for managing client investments
How portfolios are built and run is the adviser’s call. Three modes. The adviser picks the one that fits the firm today, and can change it as the firm changes.
Mode
Best for
What it looks like
Adviser-Managed models
Firms with genuine in-house investment capability who want maximum control and full economic capture
The firm builds and runs portfolios with its own investment team. We provide MDA, trading, reporting and governance underneath. IP, brand and investment voice stay with the firm
Co-built, Branded Models
Firms that want a credible investment proposition without running an internal investment team — but want it presented as their own
We connect the firm with an approved external manager. They build and run the portfolios, branded as the firm’s. The firm keeps the relationship and most of the economics
Ready-made Models
Firms that want a turnkey portfolio with zero build effort and zero oversight burden — and want to spend their attention on advice and client outcomes
Pre-built, fully managed portfolios the firm appoints rather than constructs. Zero build, zero oversight burden. The firm focuses on advice; the model runs on our rails
Firms can start in one mode and migrate as their capability and ambition grow. The infrastructure does not need to change. That optionality is the point.
What we don't replace
We don’t replace your advice, your client relationship, or your investment judgement — we make space for them. We replace the platform and it’s the right thing to replace.
Operational realities
-
No transaction-by-transaction Records of Advice.
-
SMSF, retail super, individual, joint, company, trust — all supported.
-
Asset classes a platform menu can’t hold — direct property, private credit, collectibles, off-market holdings — are reportable and monetisable, not stranded outside the firm’s view.
-
Non-pooled custodial flexibility where it’s genuinely needed.
Risk-free Entry
You don’t need to commit your whole book. Pilot with a small client set at no cost. Prove the value. Expand at the pace that suits you. Portable. Reversible. Downside bounded.