Aurora sets sail with the wind at its back

The name Mawson Securities is a nod to a former figurehead of the Australian $100 note, and the name of its spin-off group Aurora, homage to the boat Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson used to sail into the history books. And it appears the relationship between Aurora Financial Services and its parent Mawson Group is much the same — a vehicle for exploring new territories.

Aurora Financial Services kicked off in August 2003 when parent Mawson Group identified a need for a specialist dealer group for planners specialising in risk and superannuation advice.

The Mawson Group retains 51 per cent ownership of Aurora, but the remaining stake in the group is split between financial advisers, who have a 39 per cent stake, with 10 per cent owned by staff.

Mawson Group chief executive Les Mace says being independent means Aurora’s financial advisers have a real sense of ownership of the business.

“Our advisers are fully independent, we don’t tell them where to place business or what commission to receive. In terms of decision-making advisers represented on our board, we have one director who is an adviser representative and he represents all the advisers that have equity and is selected by them,” Mace says.

This year Aurora came in at 44th place in the Money Management Top 100 Dealer Groups Survey, listing a staff of 60 financial advisers, 10 more than in 2003.

Aurora financial planners are employed on a contract and remunerated on a commission basis.

In addition to this, Aurora has in place a flat rate fee model where advisers will pay a fee to receive back-office, brokerage and compliance services from Aurora, while also having access to platforms used by the Mawson group, including Navigator and Asgard.

The fee model also means advisers receive any commissions going to the dealer group as part of product sales.

“It’s been good, the advisers have contributed a lot of good ideas to how we run the business. At the end of the day, the advisers are our main people who we serve, we support them and they support their clients — so that’s a good relationship,” Mace says.

Mace believes allowing advisers to have a stake in the business is a win-win situation.

“I guess from our perspective they’re going to stick around with us and are going to be more loyal to the group, and in having a greater interest in what’s happening, they tend to contribute more,” he says.