Mawson’s rolls out first master trust
The Mawson Group is to roll out its first master trust this week as its expansion plans start to come to fruition.
The Breakthrough master trust, to be launched in Queensland tomorrow with other states to follow, is a rebadged tailor-made version of the Trust Company of Australia’s (TCA) master trust called Smart Save that was developed in conjunction with Group Life Management. Mawson advisers are currently using a number of different master trust products.
Mawson Group compliance manager Darren Lelliott says Mawson’s 124 financial planners will be offered an equity sharing arrangement in the Breakthrough service. Funds invested through the master trust will earn advisers what are called “equity credits” which help build a stake in a holding company called Adviser Equity Corporation which in turn owns 50 per cent of the Mawson Group. A similar arrangement is in place for other Mawson products and services.
The Mawson Group is also forecasting massive expansion in the number of financial planners operating under the group’s securities licence. The group has forecast the number of planners to double over the next year to about 250 planners as its 600 multi-agents and life insurance brokers seek to broaden their exposure to full financial planning.
Lelliott says the group is proud of its life insurance heritage but says a number of advisers are seeking to move to full financial planning and the group has been gearing up its training regime to assist advisers meet new education requirements.
Recommended for you
The Finance Union Sector has criticised AMP’s decision to move jobs offshore and questioned “what they will strip away next” in the ongoing business simplification.
Count is looking to adviser recruitment, acquisition of financial planning fee parcels, and cross-selling to accounting clients to improve its financial planning revenue as well as a fourfold M&A strategy.
The Perth-based wealth management firm has formed a strategic partnership with an accounting business in Brisbane, signifying its expansion into Australia’s east coast.
Large wealth management players are increasingly taking an opportunistic approach to their M&A deals rather than a strategic one, while a fear of missing out is driving smaller players to consider selling up.
