JB Were launches into planning
As part of a drive to turn itself into a "multi-financial service" provider, JB Were, Australia's largest retail stockbroking house, will launch a new financial planning service on October 1.
As part of a drive to turn itself into a "multi-financial service" provider, JB Were, Australia's largest retail stockbroking house, will launch a new financial planning service on October 1.
Called Were Strategic Planning, it will be managed nationally by Chris Tant, for-merly a director of Davey Financial Management.
Were already has a nationwide network of financial planners, but Tant says the new service will offer much more specialised advice than traditional financial planning.
"Our clients have been asking for a more sophisticated advisory service to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex environment where they have to deal with a range of issues like superannuation, tax, the impact of the Ralph report, capital gains tax and estate planning," he says.
Were Strategic Planning will target high income earning clients looking to build wealth. And, according to Tant, it will provide them with a unique service where they deal with a technically skilled strategic planning consultant, who is supported by an underlying team of investment specialists, financial planners and service support staff.
Tant says clients will be charged a time-cost fee for advice, based on an estimate provided in advance. They will also have access to an array of products and serv-ices offered by Were, depending on the level of involvement they require in the decision making process.
Clients can, for example, make use of the firm’s Investment Management Service, which includes Internet access, capital gains tax reporting and free brokerage. Al-ternatively, they can hand over the decision making process to Were’s ‘Discretion-ary Portfolio Service’
Tant says the changes at Were signal the firm’s desire to reposition itself as a fi-nancial services provider. As part of this change, the word "stockbroking" will dis-appear from the Were name.
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