Fastest growing dealer groups: Support and brand leads to planner rise at AXA

AXA Financial Planninghas used its localised planner support network and an internationally recognised brand to grow its planner numbers by over 300 in the past four years.

Paul Robertson, who joined the group only weeks ago to head up the AXA Financial Planning business, sees this support structure as one of the key differences and advantages over other dealers.

The group has developed support in each Australian state, including training teams and IT support, which have the ability to go out and operate from within an adviser’s business.

“Financial planners see this as particularly important. It’s a people business for them, so they like to see people out there supporting them,” he says.

Robertson says that although some dealers go down the path of centralisation, this does not encourage empathy across the entire organisation that local teams are able to achieve.

The group will be expanding its strength of planner support over the next 12 months, according to Robertson, with new initiatives being developed with a particular focus on practice management.

Robertson says that the AXA brand also has an appeal to a number of advisers, particularly those with an institutional background, and he feels that this will only increase over time.

He says that despite AXA’s strong growth, the dealer group will not be seeking a sheer number of planners in its recruitment strategy but will be focused on recruiting and growing the right advisers.

“I have a view that bigger is not necessarily better, that growth for growth’s sake isn’t the name of the game,” he says.

At present, dealership practice managers are responsible for recruitment through referrals from advisers and their own networks. Robertson believes this is a good model, because they are also responsible for support and development they only seek quality advisers.