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Selfwealth has launched three managed investment portfolios in Australia, expanding beyond online brokerage into managed investing.
The launch comes as fewer Australians receive financial advice and the median cost of advice has risen sharply.
The products are available through the Selfwealth platform and were developed by Syfe's global investment team after Syfe acquired Selfwealth in 2025. The range is aimed at investors seeking professionally managed options without using traditional advisory services.
Selfwealth's initial managed investment line-up includes Cash+, Income+ Defensive and Income+ Enhance. The strategies focus on cash access, income generation, and a mix of income and longer-term growth.
Cash+ is aimed at investors holding cash between financial goals and invests through ASX-listed cash and short-duration credit exchange-traded funds. Income+ Defensive focuses on regular income and capital stability through defensive assets, while Income+ Enhance has greater exposure to growth assets for investors willing to take on more risk.
All three portfolios allow withdrawals without lock-in periods. Investors can choose income distributions or reinvestment for eligible products, and the portfolios are automatically rebalanced and built using ETFs.
Advice gap
The expansion comes against a backdrop of declining use of professional financial advice in Australia. Selfwealth cited figures showing the number of Australians receiving advice fell to 1.92 million in 2025, or 10.2% of adults, from 2.62 million, or 13.9%, in 2019.
Over the same period, the median advice fee rose to AUD $4,837 from AUD $2,510. Selfwealth argued that the shift has left more investors choosing between managing their own investments and paying for conventional wealth management.
It also pointed to broader trends in household balance sheets. Nearly 70% of Australia's adult population now has net wealth above AUD $140,000, according to the cited figures, while 45% of that wealth is held in liquid investable assets.
Income demand
The launch also follows stronger investor demand for income-oriented investment products. Cash and fixed-income ETFs attracted record inflows of AUD $1.63 billion in July, representing about 20% of all Australian ETF flows for the month, according to figures provided by Selfwealth.
The trend has become more significant as investors look for ways to earn returns on cash holdings while retaining access to their funds. Selfwealth's first managed portfolios reflect that focus, starting with cash and income strategies rather than equity-heavy offerings.
Selfwealth plans to broaden its managed investments range over time to include additional asset classes, including equity and growth-focused strategies. For now, the product set is positioned as an extension of a platform already used by more than 130,000 Australian investors.
Samantha Horton, Head of Australia for Selfwealth and Group COO of Syfe, linked the launch to changes in the advice market.
"While advice has effectively doubled in price, the pool of people receiving it has shrunk as a share of the population.
"The result is that Australians are being forced to choose between doing everything themselves or paying for high-cost, traditional wealth management. We don't think they should have to make that trade-off.
"Over the past year we've been building the foundations for what's next. Today we're putting a stake in the ground with a clear ambition: to become the home of Australia's smart investors. We're broadening beyond online brokerage into a holistic wealth platform, giving Australians simpler, smarter ways to build wealth at every stage of their investment journey."
Syfe operates in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia and has more than AUD $21 billion in funds under administration across the group. Selfwealth was founded in 2012 and built its position in Australia through flat-fee online share trading before Syfe acquired it.
Horton said the latest step reflected the group's wider approach to retail investing.
"Democratising wealth has always been at the heart of what we do. By combining world-class investment expertise with the digital experience our members already know and trust, we're challenging the traditional wealth management model and making professional investing accessible to many more Australians."