Colonial First State

Products

Colonial First State’s wealth management products are broken down into three main categories:

• Superannuation
• Retirement
• Investment

Superannuation

Colonial First State offers three different superannuation products. The first is the personal super, which is a voluntary superannuation fund either in addition to that contributed to along with an employer or for those who are self-employed. Colonial First State’s personal product has no minimum initial investment requirement to open and offers a choice of over 130 different funds managed by over 60 fund managers. Funds are invested in cash, fixed interest, property and equities and have different risk profiles, minimum recommended investment timelines and asset class exposures.

The Employer Superannuation fund offers a similarly healthy range of fund options so individuals can tailor their own portfolio to suit their pension aims and timeline.

A final option is the Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) superannuation product. Here the minimum investment is set at $AUD 5000. SMSF products differ from standard superannuation funds in that members are also usually the trustees and run the fund for their own benefit as well as being responsible for adhering to superannuation and tax regulations. A similar range of funds are available within the SMSF product.

Retirement

Retirement products include pension funds and annuities offers. The First Choice Colonial Wholesale Pension product is best suited to those closer to retirement who are ready to convert their superannuation product(s) into an immediate or pre-retirement pension. Around 130 different funds are available to choose from across cash, fixed income, property and equities and the minimum initial payment to open a pension product is $AUD 20,000.

Annuity products are also offered by Colonial First State. Annuities are bought with all or part of a superannuation or pension fund and offer a guaranteed income. Fixed term and lifetime annuities are available as are fixed and inflation-linked options.

Investments/Savings

For general savings and investments outside of superannuation and pension frameworks, Colonial First State has two main products – investment focused and cash focused. The same range of funds as per superannuation and pension products are available for standard investment accounts and the minimum starting investment is $AUD 5000.

Cash accounts are tailored to either the cash portion of an investment portfolio, long term easy access savings accounts and fixed term deposits. Fixed term interest rates vary between 2.05% and 2.2% and 3, 6 and 12 month terms are available. Easy access cash savings accounts offer 1.5% interest.

Additional Services/Resources

Colonial First State provides a good resource of educational materials around investments more generally, financial management and pension planning. Different dashboards that provide guidance on the general principles of investing for retirement for different age brackets are a particularly helpful resource covering risk analysis and strategy.

Budget management tools and superannuation and pension fund calculators are also made available online as are market updates and analysis.

A personal financial advisory service is also available upon request. A first introductory meeting is provided free of charge with subsequent meetings charged.

Support

Support is available via telephone, email or postal enquiry with phone lines open between 08:00 and 19:00 Sydney time Monday to Friday. Different support lines are given depending upon the nature of the enquiry.

Security and Fairness

Colonial First State is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and is a subsidiary of one of the country’s largest banks – Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Clients can rest assured that they are under the strictest levels of consumer protection available to them.

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