ClearView and AMP share the honours
ClearView and AMP Financial Planning have taken out Money Management’s 2011 Dealer Group of the Year Awards.
ClearView was named the non-aligned Dealer Group of the Year, while AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) was named the Institutional Dealer Group of the Year.
Money Management determined the winners by utilising the market-leading Top 100 Dealer Groups data compiled by research house DEXX&R and then applying a formula based on planner numbers, funds under advice, planner growth and retention, and the ratio of FUA per planner – with each factor carrying a different weighting.
In a year dominated by the major institutional players, AMPFP emerged as a narrow winner from Commonwealth Financial Planning, with AMPFP’s recruitment and retention methodology and its Horizons Academy emerging as a key differentiator.
ClearView, the company that grew out of MMC Contrarian’s acquisition of Bupa Australia’s insurance and wealth management businesses, was adjudged the winner of the non-aligned Dealer Group of the Year category based on the positive data it managed to record across all the major criteria.
ClearView managing director Simon Swanson (pictured) said he believed the win was attributable in large part to the advantages that flowed from the distribution networks afforded by the group’s strategic partnerships.
He believed its success was also owed to its structure as a life, wealth management and financial planning company.
“It is also undeniable that we have been assisted by an effective practice management system, and that is something we believe will be vital as groups seek to deal with the Future of Financial Advice [FOFA] changes,” he said.
AMPFP chief executive Michael Guggenheimer attributed his group’s win in the institutional space to its growth strategy.
He acknowledged that AMPFP had pursued a deliberate strategy of pursuing planner numbers but maintained that this had not been at the expense of quality.
In pointing to the changes emerging from the Government’s FOFA proposals, ClearView’s Swanson suggested it would be important for dealer groups to ensure they were prepared to handle the opportunities afforded by scaled advice.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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