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Most fund managers have a fixed set of funds (the ones they manage themselves!) that they let you invest in. Eg. NavraInvest have 3 funds that they manage, Vanguard have a few more than this. There is no portfolio management offered by most fund managers - you just invest in the fund(s) you choose and they send you statements etc.
At the other end of the spectrum are wrap providers who give you a selection of funds to invest in and they provide administration and portfolio management services to make things easier at tax time. Wrap providers generally don't manage funds themselves - rather they make it easier for you to invest in a range of funds managed by the fund managers.
In the "grey area" between individual fund managers and wrap accounts are the fund managers like CFS and Perpetual who set themselves up as portfolio managers - where you can invest in a range of funds via the same investment account (not strictly a wrap account - but similar), with consolidated reporting and management. CFS and Perpetual let you invest both in their own funds, plus in funds managed by other fund managers, but accessed through the CFS/Perpetual products. There is still a limit to the number of funds you can invest in - CFS have something like 200 funds available.
I'm not exactly sure what you would use Westpac Broking for - but I'm guessing they are essentially a "discount funds provider" like InvestSmart or CommSec Funds etc ... these guys just act as a clearing house for managed funds and typically offer rebates on entry fees for retail funds so that you can invest more cheaply. These guys make their money from the trailing commission they will receive from the fund managers if you invest through them.
Here's the summary:
1. you can invest directly through a fund manager (eg Vanguard, Macquarie, CFS, NavraInvest, etc), but you may pay entrance fees and you have to do all the paperwork yourself
2. you can invest via a discount fund broker (eg InvestSmart, YourShare, Commsec Funds, etc) to avoid the entrance fees, but you still end up investing directly with the fund managers and doing all the paperwork yourself
3. you can invest via what I call a "semi-wrap" provider (eg CFS or Perpetual) to get access to all of their funds, plus third party funds which they resell - you will still have entrance fees, but will have less paperwork since the funds are managed through the one service. You can also usually use discount providers like in 2 to avoid the entrance fees.
4. you can invest via a wrap account, which costs extra, but provides access to a wider range of funds and provides portfolio and administrative services and possibly access to wholesale funds for retail investment amounts
Unless you want to use a wrap account to help with administration, most people investing on their own will go with option 2 to avoid the entrance fees.
Note that I am only referring to Managed Funds here ... ETFs are not managed funds - they are exchange traded funds ... you don't go via a fund manager, rather you go via a sharemarket broker (like Commsec) to invest in these products ... exactly the same as if you were investing in shares like BHP or Woolworths.
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Sim'
This is a general comment only and does not constitute advice. Before making financial decisions you should seek advice from a professional adviser, who can take into account your specific circumstances and investment goals.
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