Count opens option scheme to non-aligned planners

As part of a bold bid to increase revenue by 30 per cent, advisers not aligned to Count Financial will be rewarded with options in the dealer group if they drive new business towards it.

The move would mean that advisers outside the Count network would have access to the same incentives as the dealer group’s own in-house financial planners.

While the option scheme would initially be available only to advisers who attract new business to the dealer group’s fledgling mortgage origination business — ProfitPlus — managing director Barry Lambert said the incentive could ultimately be opened up to incorporate other Count services and products.

Lambert outlined the plan while launching the group’s annual report last week, in which he set the country’s fourth largest dealer group a target of 30 per cent growth in earnings over the next 12 months.

In the last financial year, booming investment markets helped Count increase earnings by 51 per cent to $16.4 million, and after-tax-profit by 37 per cent to a record $12.3 million.

“We have an expectation to grow our EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] by 30 per cent in good years and in bad years,” Lambert said.

“The fact that we do a bit more than that in some years you can attribute to the markets.

“The markets are a definite influence, but our business model and the fact that we are in a growth industry are the main drivers.”

Under the new incentive scheme, non-aligned advisers would qualify for options in Count if they increased the amount of new business they generated for the dealer group by 12.5 per cent every year.

The number of options issued to each adviser would depend on the revenue they generated, which would be converted into ‘Contributions to Count (CTC)’ credits under the dealer group’s unique remuneration structure, as well as Count’s overall profitability for a particular year — the formula that also applies to Count’s own advisers.

As well as the potential boost to Count’s mortgage business, the options scheme would also help the dealer group protect its independent ownership and ward off banks and other institutions, Lambert said.

“Part of the reason we are doing this is because we want to produce a vehicle that remains independent, and one way to do that is to continue to ensure it is owned by advisers,” he said.

“Ultimately, I believe this is the ideal business relationship because giving them [advisers] equity is the ultimate reward.”

The move comes at a time when the number of Count’s in-house franchises is actually falling. The group’s annual report shows franchisee numbers, which currently stand at about 500, fell by 4 per cent over the past 12 months, although this did not impact negatively on revenue.

And the numbers could fall further, with Lambert acknowledging the group was currently reviewing a number of practices that had failed to meet ongoing education requirements.

“If they can’t [meet the requirements], they will be exited,” Lambert said.