National Australia Bank's Financial Planner Banking (NAB FPB) division is providing services to an additional 110 advisory practices compared to nine months ago, NAB FPB national manager Shane Kirsch has said.
With markets stabilising post the global financial crisis, practices had developed more complex funding needs due to greater interest in mergers and acquisitions, and more seeing the importance of succession planning, he said.
"Merger and acquisition activity has picked up across the board and more principals are also interested in addressing succession and equity opportunities with staff, which means avenues for funding have become more relevant," Kirsch said.
"I think this trend to want to borrow for merger and acquisition purposes and succession strategies will only increase over the next 12 to 18 months, as more firms look to grow scale and adapt to proposed regulatory reforms."
Kirsch believed NAB FPB was servicing a higher number of practices not only because more firms wanted to borrow money, but because more advisers wanted to deal with specialist banking teams that had an intimate understanding of their industry.
"There is greater awareness of our services today among planners as well as dealer groups - particularly due to word of mouth," he said.
NAB FPB recently appointed a new specialist banker to the team, former financial planner Mark Natoli, who will help service the New South Wales market.
Kirsch said he still hoped to employ additional resources over the next couple of years depending on how rapidly the specialist financial planning banking sector grew.
