Alliance launches national initiative

A Melbourne-based real estate finance group plans to start distributing a cash flow monitoring service to financial planners.

Alliance Financial Group has created a joint venture company with Crown Lending Services to distribute its Money Management Program nationally.

Alliance director Craig Dres said the service would be offered to mortgage brokers, accountants, financial planners and real estate agency finance partners.

“We will give Crown access to our distribution network and expand that to financial planners,” he said.

Alliance provides mortgage financing services to real estate groups in Victoria and New South Wales and has just entered the Western Australia market.

“We are hoping to secure a distribution outlet in Queensland in the next three months,” Dres said.

“In all these states we will be looking to provide mortgages and the cash flow service to financial planners.”

The Money Management Program was developed by Scott Parry and is centred on a mortgage taken out by the client.

The client’s income is paid into the mortgage account and Crown works out what living expenses are needed for each month.

This money is then transferred to a client-nominated cheque or savings account to pay these expenses.

The surplus remains in the mortgage account.

“We have found 84 per cent of financial planners do not know their clients’ cash flow position on a monthly basis,” Parry said.

“When the planner knows their clients’ monthly cash flow position, it is easy to calculate how much money they have for investments.”

While many planners are facing drops in revenues, Parry argued this service is another reason to engage with clients despite the falling value of their portfolios.

“We are helping the financial planner generate another revenue stream.”