Optimo Financial chief executive Hugh Bannister said insurance bonds can be a useful way of saving for future large investments, particularly if the persons involved have a marginal tax rate greater than 30 per cent. 

“They are growing in popularity as an investment vehicle since the recent changes and caps introduced to the superannuation legislation have closed off opportunities in super,” said Mr Bannister.

“Adding insurance bonds to our online robo-strategy modelling has been a welcome update to our existing offering.”

While Pathfinder automatically provides guidance on concessional and non-concessional super contributions, alerts the user to schemes such as spouse super contribution, co-contribution and use of unused concessional super caps, the next expansion will be to incorporate SMSFs into the online robo-strategy modelling platform, the company announced.

“Currently we offer SMSF modelling as part of the offline services we provide to our clients,” Mr Bannister said.

“However, we want this feature available on our online robo-strategy platform. Our aim is to make financial plan preparations as easy as possible.”