Australian Financial Services (AFS), the star performer outside the top 10 in the dealer group survey, recruited more than 50 advisers in the six months to December 2006. Other big recruiters were Lonsdale Financial Group and Godfrey Pembroke, which grew by 25, and Apogee Financial Planning, which added 22. Lonsdale Financial Group national manager of network development Kon Costas says the group continues to look for quality, like-minded practices. Its objective is to grow from 96 to 100 associated firms by the end of the year, which will give it opportunities to recruit more planners.
Since the survey, AFS has continued its expansion, growing from 181 to almost 200 planners after adding a further six practices. AFS CEO Peter Daly says: "We have quite an impressive recruitment program and at any time of the year we are talking to at least 30 practices about coming on board. We are looking for larger, quality practices and dynamic individuals."
The practice also has to be 'proven', which means it needs a minimum turnover of $300,000. That doesn't exclude others, but if they join, AFS needs to be assured they would be near that level. Daly believes AFS' attraction is its institutional independence. "We represent tremendous flexibility in terms of compliance management, the approved product list, which is quite robust in itself, and the flexibility we offer in terms of software," he says. "We don't dictate to our practices where they place their business or what software they use, we encourage and guide. At the end of the day, AFS is a dealer group that is adviser driven."
When planners come on board, AFS has practice development programs to help tailor programs to individual practices. There is no one size fits all. Income growth is another attraction. The average growth in income last year for a practice was 42 per cent; the year before it was 40 per cent. "When a practice joins us that is the potential it represents. We have a Business Plus program that aims to double the size of the practice in three years," Daly says.A key differentiating factor is that AFS is not institutionally owned, so there are no conflicts of interest, Daly says.
"Our major objective was to be institutionally independent, which we achieved in April last year. Since then, we have been focusing on the bottom line. We are now in a strong position to look at acquisition opportunities," he says. The aim is to add a minimum of 20 practices a year. With six already signed up, AFS is on the way to meeting that target.
