Cameron Stockbrokers looks for the middle ground between advice and equity ownership

Giles Craig, the recently appointed managing director of Cameron Stockbrokers, has outlined the group’s plans to partner with financial planners to offer a service in the middle ground between direct equity ownership and the provision of financial advice.

Craig believes there is likely to be a movement away from managed funds towards direct stock holdings after the bad experiences some investors have been exposed to.

Craig, formerly head AMP’s private clients business, believes investors are frustrated by redemption lock downs and other stock selection concerns. Craig said investors are now likely to pay more attention to the risks associated with individual stocks following the unexpected collapse of former blue chip companies over the past year.

Where investors were once happy to enter managed funds with little knowledge of the underlying stocks, for many this may no longer be the case.

Meanwhile, a number of direct equities investors have been burnt by their attempts at direct equity management over the past year, and these investors may now have a desire for stock selection advice, Craig said.

But many financial planners are not licensed to provide advice on direct equities, or acknowledge that doing so is not part of their most valuable skill set.

Craig’s ambition is to provide a service in that middle ground, which he says will give investors the best of both worlds.

Cameron Stockbrokers has built a series of direct equity model portfolios that span the risk spectrum, Craig said. The stockbroking firm will now look to distribute these model portfolios through third parties, including financial planners.

This could include financial planners whose clients wish to have exposure to direct equities rather than to managed funds, as well as clients of planners who are unable or do not wish to provide advice on direct equities.

Cameron Stockbrokers is hoping to strike partnerships with such planners, with the possibility of referral relationships. The group currently employs four financial planners in its Newcastle office.