Tower relaunches Pivotal dealer group to focus on risk
TowerAustraliawill relaunch Pivotal Financial Advisers as a risk-based dealer group and has begun an ambitious drive to recruit advisers.
Pivotal executive manager Ken Brewer and Tower head of sales Stephen Robertson says the move is consistent with Tower’s own shift towards the risk insurance market which has dominated the group’s plans for the last nine months.
Robertson says the group will also offer financial planning services and while its core focus will be on risk insurance and superannuation, it will not become a haven for risk advisers seeking a new home before the implementation of the Financial Services Reform Act in March 2004.
Robertson says new recruits will need to generate at least 65 per cent of income as new business with a minimum income level of $150,000 each year.
They will in turn be charged a flat dealer fee of $19,000 each year as well as two per cent of commissions, with a maximum annual fee of $25,000.
However, Brewer says all advisers will retain trails from previous business relationships and will hold all volume bonuses from investment platforms.
As part of the group’s relaunch, Brewer says advisers joining Pivotal in the next three months will become part of the Founders Club and will receive the first month full commission earnings, double convention credits for the Tower conference, increased rebates on commission sales and recruitment bonuses for bringing other advisers into the group.
At present, the group has 40 advisers but Brewer expects some will leave the group and plans to recruit similar numbers from multi-agent advisers with exisiting relationships with Tower as well as another 40 non-aligned advisers.
Tower also fully or partially owns a number of other financial advice businesses includingBridges. Brewer says the transformation of Pivotal will not conflict with the Bridges group.
“The advisers at Bridges are comfortable with Pivotal because it will not cut into their market of retiree clients,” Brewer says.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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