Australia’s wrap platform industry is at a pivotal point. With assets under administration exceeding $800 billion and over 20 licensed wrap platforms operating in the market, regulatory scrutiny rising, and technology advancing rapidly, platforms are redefining how advisers and investors manage wealth.
Market Leaders and Tech Innovators
Traditional market leaders maintain dominance through scale, breadth of service, and adviser networks. At the same time, a wave of technology-driven platforms is changing the competitive landscape by offering seamless, digital-first experiences. These platforms prioritize mobile accessibility, real-time reporting, and intuitive interfaces, making wealth management simpler and more transparent for advisers and clients alike.
Investors and advisers increasingly migrate to platforms that combine robust technology, clear fee structures, and responsive service. The competitive pressure drives continuous innovation across the sector, ensuring platforms evolve with client expectations.
Competing with Superannuation
Wrap platforms face a unique challenge: competing with Australia’s superannuation system, which manages over $3.5 trillion in assets. While younger investors value ESG credentials and digital engagement, high-net-worth clients seek the flexibility and control that wrap platforms provide.
Customisation and adviser support remain key differentiators. Wraps offer access to hundreds of investment options including managed funds, ETFs, direct shares, term deposits, and increasingly, alternative assets allowing clients to build portfolios aligned with personal goals and risk tolerance. Adviser relationships add significant value, offering holistic planning for complex wealth situations such as intergenerational transfers, tax planning, and estate management.
Fee transparency is critical. Platforms must clearly demonstrate value through performance, service, and tax efficiency to justify costs compared to lower-fee superannuation alternatives.
Expanding Investment Options: Evergreen and Alternatives
The investment landscape on wrap platforms is diversifying rapidly. While unit-linked investments remain central, alternatives such as private credit, private equity, infrastructure, and real estate are increasingly offered.
Evergreen funds have become a game-changer. Unlike traditional closed-end structures, they provide continuous liquidity windows usually quarterly or semi-annually, enabling private market access within wrap platforms. Platforms partner with managers offering evergreen structures, democratizing institutional-quality alternatives for individual investors while introducing operational challenges around valuation, redemption management, and investor education.
Model portfolios and managed accounts help advisers implement strategies efficiently across multiple clients, while direct shares and international equities continue to appeal to self-directed investors seeking global opportunities. The key challenge is balancing breadth of choice with simplicity, ensuring advisers and clients are not overwhelmed.
The Role of Fund Rating
Investment research and rating firms, such as Lonsec, and 3 others play a central role in shaping approved product lists and guiding adviser decisions. Ratings offer professional validation, supporting compliance obligations and reducing adviser liability.
For alternative and evergreen funds, research house assessments are crucial. They provide due diligence on manager quality, investment process rigor, valuation methods, liquidity management, and operational controls. Platform-research house partnerships integrate ratings directly into platform interfaces, ensuring advisers have ready access to validated research when making client recommendations.
While commercial relationships between managers and research houses can raise conflict-of-interest concerns, ratings remain indispensable for scalable and reliable due diligence across the sector.
Adviser Roles and ASIC Reporting
Advisers are the linchpin of wrap platforms. They guide investment decisions, implement model portfolios, and ensure compliance with regulatory obligations. Platforms provide tools to streamline adviser workflows, automate reporting, and maintain transparency.
ASIC scrutiny has intensified, particularly after high-profile compliance failures. Platforms are required to maintain robust governance, fee disclosure, operational resilience, and cyber security frameworks. Advisers play a critical role in ensuring client suitability and maintaining documentation, while platforms must provide accurate reporting to ASIC on product offerings, transactions, and compliance with disclosure obligations.
Reporting requirements are comprehensive: platforms must track and report on client money handling, investment administration, product performance, fees, and operational incidents. Effective systems and processes are essential to meet these obligations and mitigate regulatory risk.
Technology as a Competitive Advantage
Technology distinguishes successful platforms from those that struggle. Cloud-native architecture, open APIs, and seamless integration with adviser tools, research providers, and custodians are essential.
Automation of contributions, rebalancing, tax reporting, and alternative asset redemptions drives efficiency, accuracy, and compliance. Advanced analytics and AI enhance portfolio insights, risk management, and adviser decision-making. Mobile-first design ensures clients access their wealth information anytime, anywhere.
Significant investment is required often tens of millions annually but platforms that fail to modernize risk losing assets and market relevance.
Looking Ahead: 2026 and Beyond
Emerging trends will reshape the wrap platform landscape:
- Consolidation: Smaller platforms will merge or exit, leaving top providers controlling most market share.
- Evergreen funds: Alternative assets will become mainstream within wrap platforms, supported by research validation.
- Personalization and direct indexing: Technology will allow truly custom portfolios optimized for tax and client values.
- Digital assets: As regulation and infrastructure mature, platforms may cautiously expand offerings.
- ESG integration: Sophisticated ESG reporting tools will meet regulatory and client expectations.
- Intergenerational wealth transfer: Platforms offering multi-generational planning and values-based investing will capture flows.
- Adviser evolution: Fee-for-service models will drive demand for flexible, transparent platforms that demonstrate clear value to clients.
Platforms that embrace technology, regulatory compliance, alternative asset access, research partnerships, and superior client/adviser experience will lead. Those who hesitate risk irrelevance in a competitive, technology-driven market.
Streamline Platform Operations with DV
DV empowers wrap platforms to scale efficiently and comply with ASIC requirements through:
- Centralized diligence management for research, fund documentation, and regulatory disclosures
- AI-powered due diligence automation for manager selection, onboarding, and ongoing monitoring
- Collaboration tools connecting investment, compliance, operations, and research teams
Whether modernizing legacy infrastructure, expanding alternative investments, or building new platforms, DV provides the foundation to compete effectively in 2026 and beyond.
Discover how DV can transform your platform operations – schedule a demo today.
