Planners 'trending away' from low-cost dealer group model
A trend away from the low-cost dealer group model has emerged among financial planners, reversing the trend of earlier this decade, according to Matt Taylor of Radar Results.
"Given the pressure in the current environment, they are seeking more support and want to be part of a greater network of services — although not all planners want to be working under a large institutional model," he said.
"While they were previously happy with lower costs and fewer services, planners are now seeking more of a balance between lower fees and intermediate support, including software and research services."
Taylor was speaking after Money Management yesterday carried a story of South Australia dealer group Financial Planning & Life (FP&L) having gone into voluntary liquidation.
Funding is also an issue militating against the low-cost model, according to Taylor, as some banks are “preferring to support larger licensees with which they have arrangements".
“This means that if a planning firm is considering future growth via acquisition, they will have to consider some of their options in this regard (funding).”
However, Paul Riegelruth, director of low-cost dealer group Synchron, believes there is still “very much a market among planners for user-pay businesses”.
He said established planners are “looking for less stressful relationships with our dealer group”, and there is also demand among younger advisers for the user-pay model.
“We had set ourselves a target [of having] 150 advisers on our books by 2009, representing an increase of 35 planners, and we will meet that target," he said, illustrating demand for the model.
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