Which 2 licensees lead the way in share price growth?
Only two of the listed financial advice licensees have seen growth in their share price over the past year, half the volume in December 2023.
In December, Money Management wrote how four licensees had reported share price growth over one year: Centrepoint Alliance, Diverger, WT Financial, and Count.
However, as of 31 May, just two have seen positive growth over one year. These are Centrepoint Alliance, which has grown 42 per cent, and Fiducian that has grown by 32 per cent. As a benchmark, the ASX 200 has returned 8.2 per cent over the same period.
AMP, Sequoia, WT Financial, and Insignia have all reported losses while Count is flat. (Diverger is no longer listed as it merged with Count in March 2024).
The worst-affected was Insignia that declined by 22 per cent over one year and by 4.6 per cent since the start of the year. Earlier this week, Morningstar stated in an analyst note that it is hopeful the firm’s advice reorganisation into a partnership ownership structure will help improve the firm’s outlook.
| Licensee | Share price growth over 1 year |
| Centrepoint Alliance | 42.8% |
| Fiducian | 32.2% |
| Count | 0% |
| AMP | -2.7% |
| Sequoia | -3.7% |
| WT Financial | -12.5% |
| Insignia | -21.9% |
What is driving the success?
Looking at the two licensees that have reported growth, Centrepoint Alliance was founded in 1982 and is the fourth-largest licensee with 557 advisers while Fiducian was founded in 1996 and is smaller with 80 advisers.
Speaking to Money Management, executive chair of Fiducian Services, Rahul Guha, listed three reasons for the firm’s success. A key priority, he said, is not chasing growth for the sake of it that has enabled it to avoid challenges faced by peers.
“We have a committed and sustainable business growth strategy, not just for the sake of growth but to add value to our shareholders who are committed to the long term,” Guha said.
“We have a holistic offering to clients with the ability to add margins through funds management and platform administration in addition to financial planning, where it is right for the clients.
“Thirdly, a client first focus: above-industry service standards and product offerings. We believe when our clients and advisers do well through our service, we in Fiducian group will also do well.”
He also said the firm has a high volume of support staff, offers around 15 multi-manager managed funds and a full-service platform administration offering.
Meanwhile John Shuttleworth, CEO of Centrepoint Alliance, said the licensee benefited from its recruitment and retention of advisers, quality offering, and a strong technical team.
“We are present in the market in all states, we have people on the ground and have done so for a long period of time. Advice technology is really important to us and it is all done in-house by a really strong technical team. We have a quality well-priced offering, around the middle of the pack, and an equitable structure,” Shuttleworth said.
He also cited the company stability with the licensee aiming to be a “stable licensee in a sea of turmoil”.
“We say we want to be seen as the stable licensee in a sea of turmoil, people want to have that stability and trust from their licensee. We live and die by our service quality and ours has been very consistent. We get a lot of referrals come to us,” Shuttleworth said.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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