Lifestyle Financial Services (Lifestyle) has become the third practice to join Commonwealth Bank-aligned dealer group Financial Wisdom.*
Lifestyle’s team of 10 provides advice to 350 retail advice clients and over 200 corporate superannuation clients, managing in excess of $500 million in funds under advice.
Financial Wisdom general manager Mark Ballantyne said advisers were attracted to Financial Wealth for institutional support, their commitment to providing peer support and direct access to management.
Lifestyle director Gareth Hall echoed Ballantyne, saying Lifestyle would benefit from the strength and support that can only be found with a leading institutionally aligned dealer group.
"This move provides us with the required support to implement current regulatory changes, while allowing us the flexibility to recommend the most appropriate products to meet our clients’ investment needs," he said.
Hall said many of their clients benefit from the Colonial First State platform, however, the partnership with Financial Wisdom gives their clients further access to an extensive range of quality products.
"Flexibility in product offering was one of the most important considerations for our business when choosing a dealer group," Hall said, adding they had achieved the right balance between support and independence through a negotiated charter of independence.
Financial Wisdom has also attracted Allen Private Wealth and Gordon and Gray Personal Wealth Advice to their fold, which Ballantyne said was due to their strong professional peer support network.
"Financial wisdom takes an active interest in what we’re trying to achieve with clients. Whether it’s advice about the product range or technical assistance – it’s always helpful," said Steven Allen of Allen Private Wealth.
Director of Gordon and Gray, Rodney Gray, said the structure allowed adviser businesses to prosper and grow.
"There’s a strong sense that we’re all part of one team and the benefits of growing our business will ultimately flow through to the whole dealer network, which has led to a great rapport being developed among the advisers," he said.
* Updated: This story has been updated to remove the word ‘independent’ from the description of Financial Wisdom.
