Andrew Wheeler’s 15 year tender as the face of Lonsdale is about to come to an end as he takes a step back from day-to-day management of the dealer group.
Wheeler will hand over the reins of the dealer group he co-founded in 1985 to former Westpac Financial Services state manager Mario Modica who has been named general manager of dealer operations while Wheeler moves into a non-executive director role.
Wheeler says the move is part of a restructure of the group into six business lines and changes in ownership of the group. Zurich Financial Services is looking to sell down its stake in the group to Lonsdale advisers over the next two years. Zurich currently owns the group outright and is seeking to sell down about 75 per cent to between 60 and 80 advisers. Zurich bought 80 per cent of Lonsdale in 1997 and acquired the remaining 20 per cent last month.
“The sell down will begin in a few months over a period of two years. We plan to recognise those in the network and attract those who would like to join. This is not a fund raiser but a sell down – the aim is for Zurich to be a minority owner by the end,” Wheeler says.
The restructured group will have a board made up of Lonsdale financial planners and an external chair.
Apart from his status as the founder of Lonsdale, Wheeler is also recognised as one of the pioneers of the wrap account in Australia. Wheeler was the first dealer principal to recognise the potential of the wrap when he hooked up with BT Portfolio Services to launch the AssetLink wrap service.
Under the new structure, Modica will be responsible for the continued growth of the businesses of the group’s 160 existing planners who currently oversee about $3.1 billion in funds under advice.
At the same time, Modica will also expand the network beyond its current numbers and 80 locations across Australia in conjunction with the sell down process.
Apart from the dealer group, the other business lines will include research, software development, a securities arm and two separate distribution arms dealing with the inhouse dealer group and fee based clients outside of Lonsdale. These will still be retained under the Lonsdale banner but will work as separate commercial groups.
