AFS Group owes $11.3 million to creditors
Collapsed dealer group AFS Group owes more than $11.3 million to its creditors and is unlikely to be able to pay a dividend to any one of them, a report shows.
The report, submitted to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) by liquidator BDO Australia in December last year, shows the group owes the sum to 83 creditors.
One creditor is secured and is owed $7.7 million, while 63 unsecured creditors are owed a total of $2.7 million. The remaining 19 are classed as "priority" creditors, to whom AFS Group owes almost $900,000.
However, the author of the report and BDO partner advisory, business recovery and insolvency Rachel Burdett-Baker, indicated she did not expect that a dividend would be paid to any class of creditor.
AFS Group entered voluntary administration in April last year due to financial woes caused by the outflow of aligned practices to ANZ, BT Financial Group and InFocus Wealth Management.
Further trouble erupted after it was decided that AFS advisers would not be receiving the money held in the AFS' Group Brokerage Account, which included commissions and fees generated from the advice provided.
BDO expects to finish its work on AFS in November this year.
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
