IFMA has moved to reassure its advisers that it’s full steam ahead in coming months, following the recent poaching of eight of its staff by rival start-up group Lynx Financial Services.
IFMA has moved to reassure its advisers that it’s full steam ahead in coming months, following the recent poaching of eight of its staff by rival start-up group Lynx Financial Services.
Five sales staff and three administration staff resigned to join the Mercantile Mu-tual-owned Lynx. The new group, which will operate under a general agency, life brokerage and financial planning dealers licence, is being headed by former IFMA national sales manager Stuart Abley, who is former Victorian and Tasmanian man-ager of IFMA Bill Abley’s son.
Chief general manager of Norwich Union Ian Forsyth has also written to advisers in response to the situation.
Norwich Union has interim 100 per cent ownership of the group and “is strongly supportive of IFMA”, the letter says, though it assures the advisers that “it has no hands on role to play in the day to day operations of the organisation”.
“Over the years IFMA has developed a strong standing and positioning in the in-dustry and I am confident that with your support Paul (Serong, executive chair-man) and his new team at IFMA can build an organisation that can even better service your needs,” Forsyth says in the letter.
Though IFMA executive chairman Paul Serong says he “wasn’t happy to lose eight people in a week”, he says the group has almost completed hiring replacements for them. He describes as “absolute rubbish” suggestions that IFMA does not have the full support of Norwich.
It has been alleged that many IFMA advisers are being approached to join Lynx, though Serong says he is confident most will remain with the group. “We expect they are (being targeted) but we haven’t lost an adviser yet,” he says.
“IFMA has been a tried and tested organisation for over 22 years, and in all hon-esty it needed to be revitalised.”
A spokesperson at Mercantile Mutual says Lynx is first cab off the rank in it’s strategy to “to create a range of entities” to suit advisers in different markets. Mer-cantile Mutual hopes to roll out new distribution networks “when there’s more certainty on CLERP 6”, with the spokesperson saying there will be “a whole ma-trix of other dealer groups we’ll be working with” in the near future.
Former IFMA chairman Graham Currie is consulting to Mercantile Mutual on its overall distribution strategy. The group says he has not been directly involved in Lynx.
