Mace gets Aurora head role

Dealer group Mawson Securities chief executive Les Mace has been appointed to head up subsidiary life adviser dealer group Aurora Financial Planning, which kicked off in August last year.

The spin-off dealer, which is on track to meet its target of signing up 100 advisers by June, has to date been managed by Mawson director Robb Musgrave in an acting capacity.

Mace, a former Tower executive, was appointed head of Mawson in November last year after joining the group in a consulting capacity in July 2003 — an appointment that came almost a year after previous group head Robert Steele stepped down from the role for personal reasons in December 2002.

According to Musgrave, Mace is well suited for the role, having been heavily involved in the development and launch of Aurora, which has positioned itself as a dealer group for planners specialising in risk and superannuation advice.

“The package we offer to planners is sharply constructed, and we only charge a monthly flat fee. We’re typically targeting advisers generating between $150,000 to $250,000 from writing risk,” Musgrave says.

Under the flat rate fee model, advisers pay $1,000 per month and receive back-office, brokerage and compliance services from Aurora, while also having access to the platforms used by flagship dealer group Mawson, which includes Navigator, Asgard, MasterKey and Tower’s Arc.

Mawson has 139 proper authority holders and $250 million in funds under advice.