Lynx head departs in face of ING shake up

The managingdirector of Lynx Financial Services, Stuart Abley, has walked away from the ING owned dealer group he ran for three years and joined IOOF Funds Management.

Abley, who left the IFMA life insurance agency to form Lynx in 1999, resigned earlier this month rather than continue with the dealer group, which is to be merged by ING with two of its other planning practices, Partnership Planning and AustAdvisers.

“I decided to move on because Lynx was being merged with Partnership Planning and AustAdvisers. The strategy going forward of being part of a big institutional group was not one that sat comfortably with me,” he says.

And Abley has cast a shadow over the future of Lynx within ING’s new merged financial planning business, saying he could be followed out of the dealer group by a host of other Lynx advisers.

According to Abley, many of Lynx’s 160 odd advisers will wait until they are briefed by ING about the merger in the coming weeks before deciding their future with the group.

However, Abley says the exodus may have already began at one of the other groups involved in the merger, Partnership Planning.

“I believe at Partnership Planning there have been a number of advisers leaving. With Lynx, a lot of the advisers are concerned but they are waiting...to see what ING is offering them and then a lot of advisers will make their decisions on which path they will go down.”

The managing director of Partnership Planning, David Love, did not comment when contacted byMoney Managementlast week.

ING’s head of equity distribution, Mike Goodall, conceded when he announced the merger of the three planning businesses in July that planner numbers across the ING group could fall.

Goodall did not returnMoneyManagement’scalls last week.

Abley, who has taken on the role of national distribution and strategy manager at IOOF, will focus on a new strategy to attract small independent dealer groups to the Melbourne-based fund manager.

“Our strategy is to look at existing boutique distribution groups and possibly align them with IOOF in a way where we can look at a possible equity venture with them,” Abley says.

Abley has not ruled out the possibility of IOOF aligning itself with other disgruntled Lynx advisers down the track.

When Abley left IFMA to start up Lynx, more than 50 advisers moved across from the life insurance agency to join him.