Professional Investment Services (PIS) has announced another expansion of its local operations, this time focusing on the wholesale market with a new business that will provide services to smaller dealer groups.
PIS chief executive Robbie Bennetts, who also announced this week that PIS’ recent attempted foray into the North American planning market had fallen over at the last hurdle, said the paperwork was underway for 11 smaller dealer groups to join the new local operation, whose name has not yet been unveiled, but is temporarily titled PIS Mark II.
“What we intend to do is allow [smaller dealer groups] the opportunity to come together, become a company, to still hold their licence, still run their own business, but we’ll provide back-end services to them,” he said.
Bennetts said part of the revenue from the new operation would be forwarded to the wider PIS group, while the remainder would be retained in the wholesale operation.
The dealer groups functioning within this operation would have equity shares in the wholesale company, he said.
“That company, if PIS decided to list in two years time, would have the option of being rolled up into PIS, or it could take off on its own, or could be sold as a separate business.”
Bennetts said the 12 smaller dealer groups already operating under the Professional Investment Holdings umbrella would not move across to the new company.
Bennetts has set rapid expansion targets for the operation.
“I’m going to be very disappointed if we do not have 50 [dealer groups] on board this time next year,” he said.
Meanwhile, the myblueprint dealer group PIS established last August with the backing of Channel Nine morning television host Kerri-Anne Kennerley through the website www.kerri-anne.com.au, is ramping up, with a one-day seminar to be held in Sydney in March, and a newsletter to be issued from 2006.
The group was launched with an initial pool of 85 PIS advisers, authorised under a separate myblueprint licence, and has set itself the ambitious target of having $10 billion under advice within five to seven years.
