Lowell Flinders Group unveils badged advice initiative
Financialplanning groupLowell Flinders Group(LFG) is set to become a ‘dealer of dealers’ and is close to signing up a number of financial services groups to provide planning advice to clients.
LFG managing director John Godfrey toldMoney Managementthe group has identified, approached and entered into discussions with a number of industry groups seeking to offer planning advice, but do not have the resources or capabilities to do so.
Under the proposal, planners operating through LFG will provide advice under the banner of the particular groups aligning with LFG and not the LFG brand.
The planners will still hold an authorised representative licence through LFG but will be restricted to offering advice and products according to parameters set by the third party groups.
They will also make full use of those groups’ marketing and support services to ensure clients perceive the advice as coming from their original point of contact.
As part of the moves LFG has registered the brand, 'Your Financial Services Centre' and is in discussions with industry funds and trustee groups with announcements of the first groups to use the service expected within a month.
“We identified a need for groups which want to supply a financial planning service but without the full dealer group model — that is they have a name but need the service,” Godfrey says.
“Using this model, which is a serviced office concept for financial service groups, they can have a consistency of branding and advice in every capital city which is fully backed up by the resources of LFG.”
Godfrey will also sell his financial planning training company - AdviserLink - in New Zealand to industry adviser organisation Financial Planning and Insurance Advisers (FPIA).
Godfrey, however, cannot reveal the sale price as the deal has not yet been finalised, but he expects the deal to be concluded in a few weeks.
The sale to the FPIA will make AdviserLink the training arm of the NZ based planning association and follows the sale of theInvestment Training College(ITC) toTribecaearlier this year.
ITC was a long held asset of Godfrey’s planning business Fletcher Green but was sold in March as Lowell Flinders moved to concentrate on the core business of financial advice.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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