Local boutique joins US adviser network
Western Australian financial planning group Plan B Financial Services has joined giant US-based adviser network Zero Alpha Group (ZAG).
Plan B is claiming to be the first wealth management company from outside the US to join ZAG, which has about US$5 billion under management internationally.
The relationship will have no impact on the independent ownership or operations of Plan B, which has a client base of more than 18,000 in Australia and New Zealand and more than US$1 billion in funds under management (FUM).
Plan B executive chairman Bryan Taylor described the new relationship as an “important step for our company in terms of strategy and positioning.
“As part of the ZAG network, we will be even better placed to offer our clients best practice solutions from the most advanced investment markets in the world, as well as leverage our own proprietary modelling tools.”
Taylor said Plan B shares core features of its service delivery with other ZAG group companies, namely that advisers are paid salaries, not commissions, and that they follow an asset-class investment strategy, not a conventional managed funds approach.
Meanwhile, Plan B has recently taken an equity position in one of New Zealand’s leading independent advisory firms, Strategic Asset Management, which has NZ$120 million in FUM on Plan B’s platform, Lifestyle Investment Service.
Taylor said the two firms would be working to “further expand into the New Zealand marketplace”.
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