Sue Laing, the person hired by Westpac Bank to head up its ill-fated plans to launch a new dealer group, is set to leave the bank, closing the book on Westpac’s plans to build its own third party independent planning business.
Laing, who was recruited late last year specifically to establish the new dealer group, will leave Westpac at the end of this week after the bank pulled the pin on plans for the new planning business last month.
The new dealer group, which was to be called Catalyst Financial Group, was being set up as an independent third party planning business to sit alongside Westpac’s existing planning group, Westpac Financial Planning and Advice.
It is understood Westpac suddenly abandoned its plans for Catalyst after confirming its purchase of Rothschild Australia Asset Management last month, although Rothschild itself does not own an independent dealer group.
A spokesperson for the bank refused to comment on the decline of the Catalyst plans.
The failure to establish Catalyst leaves Westpac as the only one of the top four banks without a link to a significant network of independent financial advisers.
The Commonwealth Bank, through its purchase of Colonial, the National Australia Bank, through the MLC network, and ANZ, through its funds management joint venture with ING, all have access to a distribution chain of independent advisers.
Westpac’s reluctance to push ahead with plans for Catalyst has prompted speculation the bank will go back to looking to acquire an independent dealer group.
Before Westpac’s plans for Catalyst were revealed, the bank is understood to have turned its back on the opportunity to purchase a number of planning groups.
Laing declined to comment when contacted byMoney Managementlast week.
