ING climbs the planner ranks
ING Australia and its aligned financial planning groups have experienced growth in planner numbers, but overall financial performance for 2005 was disappointing.
The 49 per cent ANZ Bank-owned listed wealth manager’s new in-house financial planning outfit, ING Financial Planning, has more than doubled its numbers to 21 in the last two weeks, while the group’s aligned dealerships have added another 90 planners in 2005.
The new recruits have lifted ING from the sixth largest distributor by planner numbers to the fourth largest in the country, according to executive director, advice, Colin Morgan.
But despite the new recruits, Morgan said investment sales by planners were “pretty flat across our groups” in 2005.
“There was no massive growth, except in the last quarter of last year where we did get a spike in terms of inflows into ING. The market was doing well, so we’re not shooting the lights out in terms of the market, but we’re doing well,” he said.
ING recruited most of its new planners last year through the acquisition of the former Challenger-owned Synergy Advisory Services, which was merged into Millennium 3.
Of its two other aligned dealer groups, Morgan said Tandem had picked up 10 extra planners, while RetireInvest had replaced the 25 planners who left to start up their own independent dealer group, Iris, last March.
“We lost about 50 planners overall in 2005, some went to Iris, some retired, some did go to other groups. But we actually got organically another 61, so we’re pretty happy with the final position.”
Morgan said growth in investment sales so far this year has been excellent.
“Growth is 16 per cent up on what we expected for the first part of the year. We’re starting to get some growth from the new planners, but most of it is coming from those who have been through the Next Level Journey program.”
The program, which is halfway through its rollout, involves moving planners onto a fee-for-service remuneration structure and enhancing practice management procedures.
ING chief executive Paul Bedbrook said last week the group had $100 million in reserve to expand planner numbers, mostly through Tandem. Morgan said the new in-house operation established last year, ING Financial Planning, would be capped at 30 planners in 2007.
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