Tailored Investing

Before Eclipse Initiatives

Most financial planners are commission-based. Not surprisingly they concentrate on selling products such as managed funds or insurance policies because they receive commission from the fund managers and life insurance companies who supply these products.

Even the financial planning groups who license individual planners can have an inherent bias. Many are owned or part owned by fund managers, life insurance companies or banks. They are therefore under pressure to recommend their owner's products.

So where does the client go for high quality advice they can rely on? You won't have to wait to find out the answer:

Eclipse Tailored Investing

At Eclipse the investment portfolio we recommend to you is designed specifically for your objectives and tolerance for risk. It is not a standard, push-button collection of managed funds. We combine the best managed funds with direct investments such as shares that are independently researched. There are six key initiatives that set Eclipse Tailored Investing apart from conventional investing:

Initiative 1

The first initiative that separates Eclipse from the bulk of financial planners is that we remove the bias often caused by a life insurance company, fund manager or bank owning the financial planning organisation.

IPAC are owned by AXA. RetireInvest are owned by ING. Godfrey Pembroke are owned by MLC, in turn is owned by National Australia Bank.

Eclipse is independently-owned by our management and staff and a small number of our clients. The specialist entities within Eclipse are ASIC licensed in their own right. This liberates Eclipse to recommend whichever investment solutions are best for our clients, free from any pressure from our owner to recommend one product over another.

Initiative 2

The second initiative is to remove the bias caused by the commission system. Eclipse licensed advisors work on a fee-only basis except where the client specifically requests us to retain commissions or a particular managed fund does not provide for commissions to be rebated. In such cases Eclipse reduces the fee by a corresponding amount. Product commissions are taken right out of the decision-making equation: they cannot influence a recommendation.

Initiative 3

The third initiative is to break free of the financial planning industry's inherent bias towards managed funds. We explained earlier how financial planners often only recommend managed funds because they - and the group to whom they are licensed - are paid a commission by them.

Eclipse recommends direct real estate or direct shares or a wide range of options seldom recommended by the biased side of the financial planning industry. At Eclipse we are client advisors, not managed fund or life insurance agents.

Initiative 4

The fourth Eclipse initiative is to bring clients as close as possible to their assets. This philosophy is evident also from other expert business units at Eclipse described in this Website.

For example, Eclipse Designer Super makes our client the trustee and owner of their own super fund, so the client controls the assets.

Eclipse Property Originiation make our clients the property owner, eliminating the property trust from the equation.

Eclipse Private Financier replaces the bank as lender. Direct shares or wholesale managed funds (which typically pay no commission) all minimise the layers and thus fees coming between our clients and their assets.

Initiative 5

The fifth Eclipse Tailored Investing Initiative is the removal of the familiar "wrap account" or "master fund". Accounts such as Navigator or Asgard are often used by financial planning services to show the client's investment status at a glance. The cost? Yes, another fee charged to you, often between 1% and 1 ½% of your total portfolio each year.

With a $1 million portfolio, a typical master fund or wrap account would have charged you fees of over $100,000 after just 10 years. Eclipse clients don't require a third party wrap account or master fund because the client reporting systems at Eclipse reveal your progress with clarity. And the cost of portfolio administration is not a percentage of your net worth, but is fully included in our already competitive fee.

Initiative 6

The sixth Eclipse Tailored Investing Initiative is comprehensive reporting. Your report should be a lot more than just a portfolio valuation and generic economic commentary as provided by some other organisations. With your report from Eclipse you can compare progress at each review relative to your objectives and relative to other investment alternatives. Your reports are presented in an easy-to-read format and can be customised to suit your particular requirements.

Clearly, what makes Eclipse Tailored Investing different makes it better. And better value. Talk with us soon!