Entireti chief executive Neil Younger has shared the responsibility and privilege as the head of Australia’s largest advice licensee, and how he aims to prevent attrition as it integrates AMP advisers.
It was announced on 2 December that Entireti had completed the deal to acquire the three advice businesses of AMP – AMP Financial Planning, Charter Financial Planning and Hillross – as well as the self-licensed offering Jigsaw.
This means Entireti will jump from having 362 advisers to having 1,300, making it the largest advice licensee in Australia. This figure is over 400 more advisers than AMP, which is currently the largest advice licensee at 862.
It also far outpaces the number of advisers at second-largest licensee Count, which has 671.
Speaking to Money Management, Younger said: “It is a privilege to be the biggest licensee, there is a lot of responsibility on us now. We have a big responsibility to improve as we have the capability from our size to be a real leader in the space and to champion the availability of financial advice.
“It’s a bit like winning the Grand Final but now we need to look ahead.”
Regarding how the deal has reshaped the licensee landscape, the CEO said it finalises the separation of advice and product “in its totality”. Earlier this year, Insignia Financial separated its advisers at RI Advice and Consultum off into Rhombus Advisory, having historically been one of the largest advice licensees in tandem with AMP.
“The advice landscape has already been reshaped over the last few years and this deal is a significant step, this is the separation of advice from product manufacturers in its totality. Having the advisers operate separately leaves them free to ensure the product fits in the best interest of the client,” he said.
He noted the approved product lists (APLs) across the various brands have 85 per cent crossover, and Entireti is likely to broaden these out in the future to take the three brands into account.
“Some 85 per cent of the APLs were the same anyway. There was a 15 per cent variance, but we won’t disrupt the APLs. It is more likely that we will broaden them out to ensure coverage rather than contract them in any way as we want them to be well-researched and for advisers to have the confidence to recommend them to their clients.
“It isn’t the case there were lots of AMP products on there; advisers are less constrained in that way than they were in the past.”
Asked how the firm will handle the huge jump in numbers from an operational perspective and reduce the number of advisers exiting, Younger said various businesses are already well-resourced and he will ensure this is maintained.
The collective brands are temporarily being known as NewCo, but Younger said a new name is being finalised in collaboration with advisers, which will be announced in Q1 2025. There will also be a new name announced for AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP) to remove the reference to the historic brand.
As part of the agreement, AMP will initially retain a 30 per cent stake in NewCo as it has made a commitment to make equity available, and Younger said this will reduce next year to a 20 per cent stake.
There will also be a close relationship with AZ NGA which has acquired the minority stakes of 16 advice practices previously held by AMP in a parallel transaction to the Entireti deal. Since the announcement of the AMP deal, AZ NGA announced it has received a $240 million strategic investment from US investment giant Oaktree Capital Management which will further boost its offering and resourcing in Australia.
Younger said: “Each business had existing resources for their advisers, and we’ve had to ensure that continues to be in place for each brand. We also have our own resources and shared resources which will give support and services to the whole group. We have 180 employees, so there is a depth of resources available there.
“AMP had a strong, full service offering, and we are committed to ensuring that continues, so more of the same, but over time we want to evolve it. We want the advisers to stay with us. For practices who are looking at succession planning, AZ NGA can provide help with that and we will work closely together.
“We are also exploring what we can do with technology and AI. It has the opportunity to be a step change for financial advice, and we are well advanced in our plans there. Currently, advisers service an average of 100 clients, so can we dial up to 150? That would definitely start to put a dent in the supply/demand challenge.”
This echoes comments by Insignia Financial which is seeking for its advice division of Shadforth and Bridges to increase client numbers from 100 to as high as 140 by 2030 via the use of technology.
Looking ahead at Entireti’s plans for the enlarged firm, Younger said it is exploring how the advisers can expand into other areas of financial advice where it is currently lacking.
“Firstly, we are looking at the capacity and capability of the advice network, and how can we get more people receiving financial advice?
“Secondly, we are looking at how we can expand the services advisers are offering, such as into risk advice and into debt/mortgage services. AMP has a long history in risk advice and risk insurance, so how do we engage that? Risk advice has gone down, but the number of consumers who need it hasn’t gone away. On the debt space, we are committed to expanding that.”
