Genesys member firm Visionplan Management is the first practice to join new dealer group Fortnum Financial Group (Fortnum), former Genesys managing director and current Fortnum executive director Ray Miles has confirmed.
Miles said earlier this month that the dealer group was ready to start hiring following the announcement that ING Australia would provide 20 per cent of the capital needed to fund Fortnum, with ING Australia-owned dealer group RI Advice Group (formerly RetireInvest) to provide Fortnum with core dealer services.
Miles said Visionplan Management was a quality firm led by a former Genesys national advisory council member, Sandy Dunshea, who would begin at Fortnum with his team in three months' time.
A spokesperson for Genesys said a search was currently underway to replace Dunshea as the national council advisory member for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, and confirmed that he would be leaving the group in due course.
Miles said he hoped to have 15 practices on board by the end of 2010 and that Fortnum would be looking to recruit practices from all over Australia, with no concentration on any particular states.
"We want to recruit larger practices that are generating $1 million in turnover," he said. "Our ultimate goal would be that our practices bring in an average of $1.2 million in turnover, however, we would still consider smaller practices that have strong growth potential."
Last year there was some speculation that Miles, who was made redundant by the Axa-owned Genesys group in 2007, could be hired by RI Advice Group.
This followed a number of ex-Genesys staffers moving over to RI Advice Group, including former Genesys chief operating officer and current RI Advice Group chief executive Paul Campbell.
