Financial advisers seeking more independence in providing a broader range of products and services need to take a pragmatic approach when making the decision to switch licensees, according to Pinnacle Practice director Anne Fuchs.
Fuchs said the majority of advisers seeking to utilise Pinnacle’s ‘My Dealer Group’ adviser/licensee matchmaking service are those who started in their early years as independents but were now concerned with the changing business model of their current dealer group.
"Advisers have told me they’re getting overwhelmed with contacts from licensee’s business development managers trying to recruit them – predominantly from the institutions," she said.
While most of the advisers were ardently pushing against signing up to a vertical integration model and would much prefer being with an independent dealer group which didn’t "have a clear alignment between platforms and advice", Fuchs said they needed to be realistic about the current state of the financial planning industry.
"I have to educate the advisers and say, ‘you can’t have everything’," she said.
"You can’t possibly have a full service dealer, pay a cheap fee, have independence and a broad approved product list."
