Introduction
Mclowd has spent the first weeks of 2014 focused on triggering a wave of change in the SMSF space, and in particular:
- Delivering on the Platform Roadmap that was published in December
- Building relationships with product providers across both the accounting Platform and Marketplace
You will soon see the results of these efforts in the actuarial space, where Mclowd is enabling product partners Verus Actuaries and Lime Super to deliver certificates at prices 30% less than the (previous) industry standard of $160.
Whether it’s accounting and tax compliance or the cost of distributing investment products, Mclowd has a laser focus on improving net returns for SMSF Trustees (and eventually other asset owners).
Platform Update
While Mclowd is helping to deliver 30% price deflation in the actuarial certificate market, we are steadily closing in on our goal of delivering 100% price deflation in the SMSF accounting software space.
This week has seen the release of version 2.0 of the free SMSF accounting software, the most important in the history of Mclowd. We have now tackled the fundamental architectural changes which will support Member-level reporting (and eventually automated data feeds).
Key features:
- Unified architecture for segregated and unsegregated Funds
- Simplified Fund Set Up
- Improved asset and income recording
- Simplified expense data entry
- Improved bank account set up
Detailed release notes can now be viewed on the website.
Channel Model
Delivery against the Roadmap not only benefits individual Trustees, but has also allowed us to progress the discussions we are having with a number of accounting and financial planning firms about the migration of their clients to the Mclowd Community.
If you are a channel partner who shares our vision, feel free to contact me on 0402 117 935.
Marketplace
Growth in the Marketplace will soon be reflected in a new taxonomy, with services categorised by SMSF, Business and Personal. There will also be a separate classification for suppliers of investment products and insurance.
For now if you’re an SMSF (or general accounting) professional who is looking for a cost effective strategy for growing your practice you can register now.
SMSF Wiki
The SMSF Wiki is now live, and while it will take time for content to evolve, I look forward to seeing Members of the Mclowd Community sharing their collective knowledge (including template documents).
As with the Forum, content in the Wiki will not be Mclowd IP, but rather will be subject tocreative commons licensing identical to that used by Wikipedia.
Postscript
In a Fairfax interview just before Christmas BetaShares co-founder Alex Vynokur made the following comment:
I think the financial services sector is on the cusp of significant disruption.”
2014 marks the year in which digital disruption comes to the asset management industry, and Mclowd has a central role to play in that process.
Thanks again for all the support we have been receiving for our efforts to improve retirement outcomes for Australians.