Following the restructuring of its business six months earlier,Deakin Financial Services Groupis now spreading its wings and going national as a company focused on a single business – financial services distribution.
With a presence already in the West Australian and Victorian markets, the group is now keen to extend its management to other states as well as developing more business alliances to grow the business.
“We are in the process of signing up planners in Queensland as we speak, and are undertaking discussions in New South Wales,” Deakin Financial Services Group executive chairman Rob Hunwick says.
Deakin’s turnaround began late last year when the group recorded a net profit after tax of $176,000 for the half year ending December 31, 2001.
This was remarkable considering the result for the same period for the previous year left the group with a $8.8 million loss.
“We had a lack of clear focus. Now we have one where our core business is financial services distribution,” Hunwick says.
He says Deakin is picking up planners ranging from CFP qualified planners to former insurance and superannuation advisors.
“The arrangements we have [in place] make any level of advisor economic from our point of view,” Hunwick says.
The new advisor package and terms which Deakin launched in January this year has been favourably received by advisors with 95 per cent accepting the offer.
“We are competitively priced and we offer a lot of services, software resources, professional indemnity insurance and we are a registered training organisation,” Hunwick says.
He says the group is unique because it is a specialist distributor that is listed on the stock exchange, and will soon achieve its desire to have a national focus.
Within this structure, forming strategic alliances has been essential.
“We have formed alliances with other distributors so we are not locked in to using a particular brand. Alliances have given us access to property investments, home mortgages and direct equity investments,” Hunwick says.
