ANZ announces practice sales facility; targets growth

ANZ has announced plans to implement an online merger and acquisition facility where advisers can anonymously advertise that there is a practice for sale, while also targeting significant growth in financial adviser numbers and phone-based advice.

"One of the big demands we have currently aside from funding is merger and acquisition help," ANZ general manager advice and distribution Paul Barrett said at a media briefing yesterday.

The online facility will allow planners to log on and advertise to the greater ANZ network - including Millennium 3 and RI Advice - that a practice is for sale. The 1,800-odd planners throughout the network will be able to log on and browse the listings, Barrett said.

If a planner goes far enough down the path of acquiring another practice, obviously there will be a point where the process can no longer be anonymous, at which point they would have to disclose their identity and sign confidentiality agreements, according to ANZ. 

There is also some thought being given to opening up the facility to the rest of the market, Barrett said.

The need to bring buyers and sellers together has never been greater than it is today, and with the average adviser age having gone up since Financial Services Reforms were brought in, there is no shortage of sellers, Barrett said.

ANZ Financial Planning is also looking to grow its planner network of around 270 advisers by around 50 per year over the next couple of years, Barrett said.

With OnePath already having made a number of acquisitions in recent years, the group would be focusing on ensuring those acquisitions were successful and focusing on organic growth in the near term, Barrett said, although you "never say never" when it comes to acquisition opportunities.

Barrett said the 10,000-strong staff base within the ANZ retail banking network provided an opportunity for some of that planner growth, and said the 50-adviser-per-year growth should be realistically achievable just from internal recruitments.

Barrett also tipped "significant" growth within the group's phone-based advice service as more efficient forms of advice delivery became crucial in a post Future of Financial Advice world. The phone-based service has actually been an adviser led initiative, with advisers throughout the network asking for extra support in servicing B and C clients, he said.

Barrett said there were no specific targets to grow the phone-based service. "We're assessing it week to week, we're meeting demand, and as demand increases we'll grow that business," he said.