Thefinancial planning arm of the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is developing an ‘adviser academy’, which it hopes will raise the standard of its advice business and attract a further 200 planners over the next three years.
The adviser academy, which will take its first entrant in February next year, is one of the 12 planned projects now underway as part of the bank’s recently announced $1.5 billion makeover.
According to newly appointed executive general manager, investment and insurance services Brett Himbury, who will lead the implementation of the advice related projects, “when banks finally get their act together, planners will see they are a terrific place to have a career”.
He says the bank also has specific plans to up the ante in the premium and business banking segments of the market, which to date have only seen a small service commitment from CBA.
The academy will aid in the development of existing planners while aiming to attract a further 200 planners, both through internal and external channels, Himbury says.
Through the academy, existingFinancial Wisdomplanners will receive ongoing training and succession planning, while induction training for new planners will be tailored to suit client bases. Core education in the academy will be outsourced, while the recruitment function will be developed in-house.
The only other of the 12 projects with implications for the advice side of the business will see the bank “more clearly identify different customer needs through the different segments, and build higher standards propositions for those various customer segments,” Himbury says.
CBA currently has 1,100 planners — 400 under the Financial Wisdom banner and 700 in the wider network.
About 95 per cent of client dollars within the bank’s branches are flowing into the CBA ownedColonial First StateFirstChoice platform.
