FOFA a factor in Count board decision

The Commonwealth Bank's proposed acquisition of Count Financial will assist the big accountancy-based dealer group better deliver a scaled advice proposition under the Government's new Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) regime.

That is the assessment of Count Financial chief executive, Andrew Gale, who told Money Management that while the proposed FOFA changes may not have been the over-riding factor in the Commonwealth Bank's decision to mount a bid for Count, they had certainly been a factor for consideration by the Count Board.

"FOFA was a catalyst," he said. "We had been saying for much of the past 15 months that the legislative proposals were likely to encourage vertical integration in the industry," he said.

However, Gale said the attraction of the CBA offer was that it recognised the strength of the Count brand and the Count model and would maintain that independence with respect to brand, open-architecture and an approved product list.

He said that while the acquisition of Count would deliver many benefits to the CBA, including greater access to the Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) market, Count practices would also benefit in terms of the ability to deliver scaled advice to clients who might not yet be ready to embrace comprehensive advice.

Gale said it would also give rise to the ability to offer general insurance.