Financial services company the Investor Group has opted for a single dealer’s licence as part of an ongoing drive to consolidate a series of acquisitions of a number of financial planning groups.
Financial services company the Investor Group has opted for a single dealer’s licence as part of an ongoing drive to consolidate a series of acquisitions of a number of financial planning groups.
The decision has been made in line with a move to centralise its supply of outsourced support services to firms in the groups financial planning division, Investor Financial Planning (IFP).
Financial planning groups within IFP currently operate under separate dealer licenses, and speculation on whether Investor Group would establish its own has been mounting.
IFP Chief executive officer Tim Townsend says that after reviewing the future of the group the strategic decision was to operate under a single Investor Group dealer’s licence.
He says the decision has been made alongside the current tender and the licence should be operational in two to three months time.
The current tender to outsource services of a wrap account, superannuation master trust, adviser software, investment research, technical support, compliance services and training is now well advanced.
A meeting has been held with IFP planners, who have had a hand in devising criteria for selection and Townsend says they have been “very involved in the process and saying what is important for their business.”
The shortlist of four has been chosen, the operational visitation program is completed and Townsend expects the announcement of the winning dealer group to be made by the middle of this month.
Once this takes place, he says the next step will be the orderly transition of the business.
“The process is to establish a financial planning platform and move towards transition. We will select financial planning tools, build the platform, incorporate compliance then build the company around it,” Townsend says.
Amid these changes, continued growth remains important on Investor Group’s agenda.
Of the groups ten accountancy firms with financial planning arms, seven were acquired this year. The most recent purchase of Garrotts accountancy business, and associated financial planning business Paterson Financial Services, will officially be in place by the end of this month Townsend says.
Investor Group also has two specialist financial planning businesses, Spectrum Financial Services and Supermaster Corporation.
The recent acquisitions bring the amount of funds under advice in excess of $1.6 billion, and further growth is predicted with Investor Group under negotiation in a number of areas.
“We will continue to add where quality permits. A lot of consolidation is taking place at the moment and there can be difficulties in finding the right groups,” Townsend says.
