RetireInvest Bendigo has rebranded as Flack Advisory and switched licensees to Charter Financial Planning in becoming the latest ipac equity partner, after 22 years with RetireInvest.
Ipac has taken a 50 per cent stake in the practice that includes three advisers in a total of 12 staff and manages $270 million on behalf of clients. Ipac chief operating officer Eric Gibson (pictured) said that while equity partnerships usually tend to be about a 10-year term, there was no set duration and a shorter or longer term could be negotiated.
There is also no reason why principal George Flack could not continue to work in the practice once ipac takes the remaining stake, he said. Two of ipac’s original equity partner principals still work for the group on a part-time basis, he added.
“George Flack is a highly regarded adviser and business owner. His intimate knowledge of social security has delivered enormous value to his clients and grew the practice to be one of the most successful at RetireInvest,” Gibson said.
Flack, Money Management Financial Adviser of the Year in 1996 and 2004, said he felt it was important to start looking at his longer term retirement planning goals, although at 58 he said he still planned on working in the practice for another 12 years. An active volunteer fire fighter who competes in amateur and professional athletics, Flack said he does not view 65 as a ‘Chinese wall’.
Flack said there had been a resurgence of morale among the staff about business through the door, and that there was some certainty around the practice’s future.
Clients now have certainty that the business will continue, the staff will still be there, the premises will remain the same, there is a visible succession plan in place, and the practice will be able to ensure other qualified professionals come in to replace the planners who move on, he said.
“[Clients] won’t be orphaned, they won’t have to go out there and search for somebody else to have as a planner that they have to learn to trust again,” Flack said.
“Areas like social security are more complex than they have ever been. The partnership with ipac will give us fresh ideas to run the practice better, support for acquisitions to fast-track growth, and provides a certain future for our business,” he said.
