Investor Group looks to outsource planning services
Listed financial services company Investor Group has received extensive interest from service providers in its bid to outsource a number of support services for its financial planning arm, Investor Financial Planning (IFP) according to Tim Town-send, IFP chief.
Listed financial services company Investor Group has received extensive interest from service providers in its bid to outsource a number of support services for its financial planning arm, Investor Financial Planning (IFP) according to Tim Town-send, IFP chief.
Townsend says the group is looking for a provider that can supply the maximum number of services it requires.
“In a perfect world all the services we require would come from one provider but it may be that most would come from one firm and we would cherry pick one or two other services,” Townsend says.
He says the IFP want to outsource services such as a wrap account, superannuation master trust, adviser software, investment research, technical support, compliance services and training.
“We do not wish to build a substantial in-house team to provide these services to our member firms, and so we have decided to outsource, where possible.”
Currently all Investor Group members source services from a variety of providers and Townsend says they will not be obliged to use the providers the company se-lects following the tender process.
“The tender process will be open to organisations currently supplying these serv-ices to various members as well as a range of organisations offering these services generally in the market,” Townsend says.
He says many providers have already expressed interest and the final suppliers should be determined in the next two months.
Investor Group, which listed two years ago, owns a range of regional financial planning and accountancy practices across the eastern states and currently has close to $1.5 billion funds under advice.
Townsend says the company may still add selected accountancy and financial planning firms to its list.
“We haven’t finished the acquisition phase yet and may purchase up to three or four more quality businesses,” Townsend says.
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