The number of unlisted financial products being registered in the Australian market is increasing year-on-year, with the total number of participants in the APIR coding regime and products registered for the 2020/21 up significantly on the previous year, according to APIR chief executive, Chris Donohoe.

APIR identifies, codes and manages reference data for unlisted financial products. In its 27 years of operation, it has identified over 30,000 individual financial products. APIR has extended its reporting capability and will be releasing industry volume numbers on a quarterly basis.

Key highlights from the latest report include:

• Total product registrations for the 2020/21 financial year were up 25.6 per cent on the previous year
• This trend continued in the September 2021 quarter with total product registrations more than 100 per cent on the same period in 2020
• Participants (product issuers) increased 10 per cent over the 2020/21 financial year
• Continued rationalisation of superannuation structures at the investment option level.

Mr Donohoe said the types of products being registered at any given time will be dependent on a number of factors, including prevailing economic sentiment and product manufacturing costs.

“It is pleasing that a significant component of the growth is coming from traditional managed investment products. Product registration levels are a good barometer of industry sentiment, so product issuers are clearly feeling a degree of optimism and new participants are continually entering the market.

“Corporate activity and any new regulatory measures are far more likely to impact on the number of new and closed products available than market volatility, and this has certainly been the case in recent months.

“There’s a number of reasons for the results including the positive impact from the new Design and Distribution Obligations that came into effect on 5 October 2021 and the scalable nature of managed investments products from a manufacturing perspective,” he said.

Looking ahead to 2022, Mr Donohoe said APIR expects to see continued growth across most product types, with a continuing rationalisation of superannuation products.

“We anticipate continued growth in the managed accounts area of the business. It remains a small part of the collective investment scheme landscape, but the growth rate is relatively strong. We also expect some of our existing clients to take advantage of the new life insurance identification capabilities.

“Conversely, we expect to see archiving of superannuation investment options as trustees continue to rationalise legacy products and simplify their offering to members,” he said.

For more information, please contact:

Chris Donohoe
02 6181 0590/ 0410 425 634
chris.donohoe@apir.com.au

APIR Systems Limited (APIR), LEI code 261700K5E45DJCF5Z735, is an independent, privately owned utility that provides a critical component of the wealth management industry's infrastructure.
Since 1993, APIR has been identifying, coding and managing reference data for unlisted financial products. During that time, we have identified over 30,000 unlisted financial products of which nearly 15,000 are actively trading in today's market.
The "APIR Code" is universal across the Australian wealth management industry, being used by all the distribution platforms, custodians and fund administrators. Our supporting data services are used by leading research houses, data houses, major software developers and financial planning desktops.
APIR is also the issuer of ISIN (International Securities Identification Numbers) for unlisted managed investment schemes and superannuation funds in Australia.
Additionally, in partnership with RapidLEI, the world’s fastest growing issuer of LEIs, we are the leading Australian based GLEIF approved Registration Agent. Through our partnership we have assisted thousands of Australian companies, SMSFs, trusts and funds efficiently register, renew and maintain their LEI and reference data.