At least 50 risk advisers are set to meet in Sydney later this month to develop a co-operative style dealer group.
The meeting is being organised by Hugh Crawford and Associates principal Hugh Crawford, Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) research officer Dugald Mitchell and high profile risk adviser Marj Russell.
Crawford says the move comes after a number of risk advisers felt there was a need for a dealership that was fully owned by its proper authority holders, thus providing control and independence.
“Many risk advisers are concerned about the Financial Services Reform Bill (FSRB) and dealer groups putting educational requirements on them that are not related to risk,” Crawford says.
“Some are also concerned about their dealer moving into financial planning and they are not happy with that outcome as it is not relevant to what they do.”
Crawford says some risk advisers are also not happy with fee and commission arrangements with their current dealers.
Proposals under discussion at the upcoming meeting include having no bias towards any product supplier; being wholly owned by its planners and refusing to sell unless more than 50 per cent of members agree.
Crawford says much of the preliminary work has already been done including the rules governing the dealer group and tenders have been called for outsourced services. However these will need to be ratified when the board has been formalised.
“The purpose of the meeting is to nominate people from the floor to create a steering committee who will be involved in the creation of the co-operative. They will also oversee the creation of a formal board to bring into being the dealership,” Crawford says.
“Depending upon regulatory approval, we plan to have the co-operative formed by the end of March and to have the dealer group operational by early June,” Crawford says.
The co-operative will primarily focus on risk advisers but will also be open to those supplying financial advice and mortgage broking services with a possible second meeting being scheduled in Melbourne in early March for advisers in Tasmania and Victoria.
