Macquarie overhaul to shift stock brokers into planning

MacquarieFinancial Services is undertaking an extensive overhaul of its broking business that will result in the group providing a full service broking division by late June and all its brokers becoming qualified financial planners.

Less than three months after Macquarie announced it had revamped its financial services division, the group has sprung into action, with its broking division busy re-skilling its 160 plus brokers through the Diploma of Financial Planning (DFP).

Macquarie Financial Services executive director Brett Spork says the reskilling should be completed in time for the commencement of the Financial Services Reform Act later this year.

“We’re moving into providing extensive full service broking, so there is a huge amount of training to undertake, with our 160-170 brokers training through the DFP channel,” Spork says.

Macquarie Financial Services joint head Peter Coleman says the overhaul of the broking division will transform the brokers into professionals capable of giving financial planning advice to clients.

Coleman, who moved across to Macquarie from the National Australia Bank in November last year, says the transformation of Macquarie’s brokers to providing advice is not about taking away from the group’s existing financial planners, but more about value adding for the client.

Despite the group’s overhaul, Coleman says Macquarie is still determined to push its financial planning division numbers up to more than 100 planners in the next few years, as indicated toMoneyManagementby former Macquarie Financial Services associate director Kevin Johnston last year.

“We are on track. We are looking for both small groups and individual planners. Many conversations are under way,” he says.

There is also the possibility the group will look for acquisitions across the Tasman.