Spring Financial Group has shifted strategy on its outright acquisition of superannuation and financial and retirement planning group, Financial Choice Holdings Limited, but is leaving its options open.
The company announced on Friday that it had appointed Financial Choice as a corporate authorised representative (CAR) ahead of a full launch of a dealer group services offer.
The Company said its appointment of Financial Choice as a CAR represented a shift of strategy from its previously announced intention for an outright acquisition of the business, but it had retained a first and last right of refusal for an outright acquisition, which will be considered in the future.
According to Spring Financial, the appointment of Financial Choice as a CAR will provide the company’s clients with access to a broader advice and product suite ranging from mortgages and finance, to estate planning, property advice and personal and corporate tax and accounting.
It said the appointment added a significant $325 million to the Group’s assets under advice, bringing its gross assets under advice to around $850 million, and reflected the company’s pending launch of a full suite of dealership services for the financial advice industry.
Commenting on the move, Spring Financial Group founder and managing director, Keith Cullen said a lot of advisers and mortgage brokers had sought to join the company on a dealership basis and the company’s growth “now sees us with a depth of offering, and appropriate operational capacity, to support and supervise them across a full suite of dealer group services.”
The Company said its dealer group service offerings would include critical base services such as compliance and education; approved product list management; and professional indemnity insurance cover. It will also offer tailored programs, enabling advisers and brokers to access those services most relevant to their specific needs including:
