PIS closes in on industry leaders
Professional Investment Services (PIS) is quickly establishing itself as the dealer group to watch in the coming year with two corporate plays in the past fortnight pushing it into the top tier of financial planning groups.
Professional Investment Services (PIS) is quickly establishing itself as the dealer group to watch in the coming year with two corporate plays in the past fortnight pushing it into the top tier of financial planning groups.
PIS has signed a deal with the Bank of Queensland to provide the bank’s customers with independent financial planning advice. The signing of the alliance agreement follows the announcement PIS is to acquire one of Australia’s largest life insurance brokerages, IFMA.
PIS managing director Robbie Bennetts has told Money Management the group is also looking to seal yet another deal before the end of the month.
The deal with the Bank of Queensland involves PIS providing the recruitment and training of financial advisers in the bank’s 92 branches under the banner of Bank of Queensland Financial Planning. The roll out of the service is to begin shortly and be completed by early next year.
PIS managing director says PIS will look to recruit planners to work under the B of Q banner from within the PIS network; from inside the newly acquired IFMA; and from outside the group.
“What it means for anyone joining the PIS structure is that there is plenty of opportu-nities,” Bennetts says.
While the deal with the Bank of Queensland will bolster adviser numbers over the coming year, the acquisition of IFMA immediately bolsters PIS adviser numbers to more than 600. PIS will add about 400 advisers to its existing base of 270 financial planners through the deal with Norwich Union, the previous owners of the business. Another 30 advisers will join PIS after Norwich Union also agreed to offload its fi-nancial planning subsidiary Blueprint Portfolio Services.
While the terms of the deal remain under wraps, at least part of the takeover involves Norwich taking a minority interest in PIS but no presence on the board. Both IFMA and Blueprint will remain as separate entities in the PIS structure.
While the current round of deals will lift PIS into the top 10 of the Money Manage-ment Top 100 Dealer Groups, Bennetts says simply building adviser numbers is not the name of the game.
“We are hoping to build new business coming in to above $1 billion a year. We are aiming to do that in the next financial year,” he says.
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