SHAW Stockbroking has released a new ‘discretionary managed account’, which it claimed can sidestep the dangers and inflexibilty posed to investors by pooled vehicles.

The new service, dubbed Your Portfolio, was created after extensive research of financial planners, according to Harold Shapiro, managing director of SHAW Stockbroking. Shapiro said its research has found individually managed accounts (IMAs) and separately managed accounts (SMAs) no longer give advisers the flexibility and control of direct equities investment they require. He said unlike SMAs/IMAs, listed investment trusts and managed funds, SHAW’s Your Portfolio allows individuals to tailor their portfolio while also accessing the in-house stock-picking expertise at SHAW. “Every individual is different therefore the product offering should be too,” Shapiro said in a statement. However, the SHAW service has a minimum entry level of $200,000 with a maximum annual management fee of 1.75 per cent on top of brokerage of 0.5 per cent plus GST.