Awards trifecta for Leveraged

Leveraged is the number one ranked margin lender for customer satisfaction among investors, stockbrokers and financial planners*, confirmed through the results of three Investment Trends 2015 Margin Lending Reports.

Head of Leveraged David Arnold discussed the results of the stockbroking report.

"This is an outstanding result for Leveraged and provides further evidence of the extraordinary effort our BDMs and support staff have put in following last year's reinvigoration of the Leveraged business.

"Our industry-leading service proposition is based firmly on the strength of our BDM relationships with stockbrokers, administrative ease, accuracy, efficiency with applications and our ability to communicate effectively with our partners.

"Leveraged continues to hold a clear majority of primary relationships with stockbrokers and has topped seven out of ten brand attributes - the top three being good customer service, competitiveness and communications.

"Half of current margin lending stockbrokers say they intend to increase their use of margin lending over the next 12 months. To this end, we will continue to assist brokers, financial planners and their customers into the future with additional educational resources. This will include workshops, webinars, roundtables and technical articles for continuing financial professional development and investor education in order to foster greater understanding of gearing as a strategy.

"Interestingly, the Investment Trends report found that significantly more stockbrokers are saying their most recent margin loan was instigated by the client, indicating considerable unmet need. One theory as to why this is happening is that with less servicing from financial planners in this space, investors are heading directly to stockbrokers.

"Borrowing to invest in shares may be a strategy that some investors are revisiting due to a reduced appetite or ability for borrowing to invest in property. A loan of $50,000 to $150,000 to build a blue-chip share portfolio is not as big a first plunge as borrowing $400,000 to buy an apartment with the accompanying ongoing management costs and tenant hassles.

"Young, mobile career builders can use the strategy to rent where they want to live while steadily building a portfolio of shares that can pay reasonable dividends.

"With three Investment Trends customer satisfaction awards across the Stockbroking, Financial Planning and Investor categories, Leveraged customers can expect a premium service with private-banking style account management supported by our proven risk management expertise.

"Our innovative product range, multi-product strategy and position in the industry as the professional's choice means that however investors are introduced to Leveraged, be it via the stockbroking, financial planning, or direct channels, our outstanding service offering is designed to help clients navigate through dynamic market conditions and realise their financial goals," Mr Arnold said.

*Results from the Investment Trends 2015 Margin Lending Reports, based on an online survey of 234 full service stockbrokers, 417 financial planners and 1,793 investors