R&SA to expand distribution on back of float

Royaland Sun Alliance (R&SA) Financial Services will look to dramatically expand its local distribution capacity after putting months of speculation about its ownership behind it with an announcement that it will publicly list its Australian operations.

The group’s general manager of distribution, Peter Jowett, says R&SA will aim to double the number of advisers in itsGuardian Financial Servicesdealer group and triple the number in itsCameron Walshedealership within 12 months.

Guardian, launched in November last year, currently has some 98 planners while Cameron Walshe, formerly an independent dealer group purchased by R&SA in June 2001, has 41.

The public unveiling of the ambitious plans come only weeks after the group’s UK parent ended months of conjecture about the future of its Australian operations by announcing that it would offload the business through a public float in the first half of next year.

The move, described publicly by some analysts as not without its challenges, will reportedly reap up to $2 billion for the group’s cash strapped UK parent.

The move to list the group came only after several attempts over the last year to sell off the local operations, including, it is understood, to theTowergroup.

It is understood the sale would have seen R&SA auction off its asset management business, including theTyndallfunds management group, its distribution capacity, including its financial planning dealer groups, and its various insurance brands, including AAMI and Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency.

Jowett says although the public listing was not the group’s first option, it would bring much needed credibility to R&SA.

“From our distribution point of view, [advisers] take a lot of comfort from the fact that we will be an Australian entity [after listing]. Being a listed company also changes the culture of the company because you are subject to the scrutiny of shareholders,” he says.

According to Jowett, R&SA has been seriously impeded in its efforts over the last year to attract advisers, particularly to the newly launched Guardian, by the ongoing speculation over the group’s future.

“All the rumours that were out there about our future have made it difficult to grow our dealer groups. But with these removed I don’t see why Guardian can’t double over the next 12 months and Cameron Walshe come close to tripling,” Jowett says.

The company is also likely to have to undergo a re-branding exercise, with the listed entity unlikely to be able to keep the R&SA moniker. However, Jowett says the re-branding will not necessarily involve the group’s financial planning businesses.

“The whole issue of branding is central for us, but that doesn’t mean that we will re-brand our dealer groups,” he says.

As well as growing the number of their advisers, Jowett says R&SA’s dealer groups will also focus on creating closer ties with the other businesses in the R&SA network.

Jowett says the group’s UK parent, which will cut all ties with the local operations after the float, was not always adept at identifying synergies across its various Australian businesses.

“Like any company that has an offshore parent, we always believe that the parent has been an impediment to us,” Jowett says.