18 September 2026
5 min read
Five diversified portfolios on FirstChoice, combining active, enhanced and index building blocks in a modern multi-asset, multi-manager approach.
Summary
Introducing FirstChoice Flex: five diversified managed accounts designed to help advisers meet a range of client objectives and risk profiles. Developed and managed by the CFS Investments team, Flex is available on FirstChoice, a platform advisers already know and trust.
The Flex Philosophy
FirstChoice Flex managed account portfolios are built around a simple philosophy: use the right tool for the right opportunity. Taking a modern multi-asset, not just multi-manager approach to portfolio construction, it draws on active, enhanced and index building blocks to direct investment skill where it has the greatest potential to add value.
For Ritesh Prasad, Multi-Sector Portfolio Manager at CFS, the starting point is simple:
"Every portfolio is really a translation of a philosophy onto a platform, taking the available menu and pricing into consideration. The Flex philosophy uses the full toolkit beyond traditional active and passive, including the middle-ground of enhanced. We believe this suits today’s markets."
FirstChoice Flex's three guiding principles:
Active where it matters
Active management should earn its place in a portfolio.
In FirstChoice Flex, CFS Investments believes in spending wisely on behalf of clients and will only pay active fees in asset classes where they believe it will pay off. This means active management is not uniformly applied across every asset class, reserving resources and directing investment skills where it has the greatest potential to add value.
For adviser Bradley Rogers, that thinking resonated.
"When I asked for Flex on FirstChoice, what I was after wasn't a cut-and-paste job, but harnessing that same asset allocation engine and that same philosophy, like-for-like where it makes sense, but spending the alpha budget on the best available options and indexing the rest. The managers become far less important over ten years. If you've got top-quartile funds, what really matters is the return relative to the cost."
- Bradley Rogers, Financial Planner & Manager Director, WealthShore.
The right tool for the job
Most portfolios tend to favour one style of implementation. FirstChoice Flex takes a different approach. Active, enhanced and index building blocks are each selected on merit, based on the role they play within the portfolio. Whether the objective is broad market exposure, specialist factor access or active security selection, the focus is on using the right tool for the right opportunity.
FirstChoice Flex helps advisers move beyond the active versus passive debate and focus on what works. The result is real portfolio construction, not a shelf of funds bolted together. Each allocation is designed to contribute to a clear portfolio outcome.
Built for today's world
The CFS Investment team believes in this broader approach to portfolio construction is necessary in today's investment environment. Market velocity has increased, traditional defensive assets have failed to safeguard client portfolios, market concentration has created challenges for investors, and geopolitics are causing assets to behave differently.
At the same time, advisers have access to a broader range of portfolio building blocks than ever before. Alongside traditional active management and index exposures, portfolios can now draw on enhanced strategies such as smart beta, targeted ETFs and dynamic asset allocation. FirstChoice Flex was built with this reality in mind. Taking a multi-asset, not just multi-manager approach, it captures a top down, all-encompassing view and ensures a broader investment toolkit is drawn on to direct investment skill, and each dollar, to where they add the most value.
Multi-asset, not just multi-manager
Built from the top down and considering asset allocation, risk exposures, implementation efficiency and diversification alongside manager selection, is what FirstChoice Flex offers investors.
Rather than simply combining a collection of underlying managers, the portfolio also manages market exposures and portfolio outcomes (managing markets, not just managers).
Where Flex meets FirstChoice
FirstChoice Flex combines the modern portfolio thinking of the CFS Invesments team with a platform advisers already know and trust.
Developed and managed by CFS Investments, Flex brings the core philosophy, process and investment discipline that have underpinned CFS’s strong and recognised investment outcomes¹ to a modern managed account solution available on FirstChoice.
CFS Investments was recognised by Chant West as having delivered the highest overall investment outcomes over 1, 3 and 5 years to 30 June 2025 when aggregating the experience of all age cohorts.²
FirstChoice is rated #1 by advisers for overall satisfaction³, and advisers who use CFS FirstChoice as their primary platform serve 30% more ongoing clients than those using other platforms.⁴
Available on the FirstChoice platform, Flex brings the modern investment thinking of the CFS Investments team to a platform advisers already know and trust.
Meet the suite
FirstChoice Flex is available in five risk profiles: FirstChoice Flex 30, 50, 70, 85 and 99**.
CFS FirstChoice Flex 30
30/70
CFS FirstChoice Flex 50
50/50
CFS FirstChoice Flex 70
70/30
CFS FirstChoice Flex 85
85/15
CFS FirstChoice Flex 99
99/1
Ready to take a closer look?
To find out how FirstChoice Flex could fit your clients, explore the FirstChoice Flex managed accounts page or connect with a CFS Business Development Manager.
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¹ CFS was recognised by Chant West as having delivered the highest overall investment outcomes over 1, 3 and 5 years to 30 June 2025 when aggregating the experience of all age cohorts across its MySuper Lifestage investment options. Source: Chant West MySuper Performance Outcomes Survey FY25. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.
² As above
³ 2026 Adviser Platform Experience Report
⁴ 2025 Advice Practice Profitability Report, Colonial First State in partnership with Empower Business Advisory, based on responses from more than 500 advisers and support staff. Advisers using CFS FirstChoice as their primary platform for new client business served an average of 139 ongoing clients, versus 107 for users of other platforms.
**Refer to the FirstChoice Digital reporting Hub for the full details of fees and costs.
Adviser use only
Avanteos Investments Limited ABN 20 096 259 979, AFSL 245531 (AIL) is the trustee of the Avanteos Superannuation Trust ABN 38 876 896 681 and issuer of CFS Edge Super and Pension. Colonial First State Investments Limited ABN 98 002 348 352, AFSL 232468 (CFSIL) is the Investor Directed Portfolio Service (IDPS) operator, administrator and custodian of the Avanteos Wrap Account Service and issuer of CFS Edge Investments.
This webpage provides general information for the adviser only and is not to be handed to any investor. It doesn‘t take into account anyone’s individual objectives, financial situation, needs or tax circumstances. You can find the Target Market Determinations (TMD) for our financial products at www.cfs.com.au/tmd which include a description of who a financial product might suit. You should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Investor Directed Portfolio Service Guide (IDPS Guide) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) before making any recommendations to a client. The PDS, IDPS Guide and FSG can be obtained from www.cfs.com.au or by calling us on 1300 769 619.