Another successful year for Bennetts
No stranger to Money Management’s most influential list, Professional Investment Services (PIS) chief executive Robbie Bennetts has made the cut once again, but for different reasons.
As Australia’s largest dealer group in terms of financial planner numbers, 2007 was a big year for PIS.
Overseas expansion, industry development and good results have all been ticked off Bennetts’ ‘to do’ list this year.
The group’s most recent accomplishment has been the success of its Associated Advisory Practices (AAP), which currently provides 103 boutique dealer groups with back-office and business development support, an opportunity for equity participation as well as professional development days, conferences and access to approved products, research and software.
Phase one of the PIS spin-off exceeded its targets in terms of funds under management, revenue and client numbers in just over 12 months.
At the end of June, Bennetts called a meeting with various industry spokespeople and other dealer group heads to discuss the issue of making clients more accountable for their investment decisions.
At that meeting he proposed a mandatory client document, which he believed would ultimately offer protection to financial planners.
The meeting was well-attended and the outcome was for PIS to implement the strategy itself and report back to the industry about its success, and that process is still underway.
Meanwhile, Bennetts has been taking the Australian financial planning model to the international stage through the global expansion of PIS to places like Singapore, Canada and China, with the dealer group forecasting substantial growth in all its overseas operations.
One of the more recent developments in this area has been Project 500, a strategy whereby Bennetts plans to target 500 Canadian accountancy practice principals.
The initiative will see PIS work with accountancy practices by offering financial services without expecting an equity stake in the business.
The Australian implementation of Project 500, which began in January, has signed up 98 accountancy practices so far, comprising 125 practice principals and 361 professional staff.
— Sara Rich
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