Unrest among Genesys Wealth Advisers (Genesys) member firms has reached boiling point with new claims of two breakaway groups set to exit the dealer group.
“There are two breakaway groups and about 50 [member firms] involved in those,” a senior planner within Genesys told InvestorDaily yesterday.
Confirmation of the groups comes just days after it was revealed former Challenger financial planning chief Greg Kirk received a $3 million bonus for his involvement in the sale of Genesys to Axa, which took place in June.
News of Kirk’s bonus left many within the Genesys adviser network furious.
“Andrew [Creaser, Genesys director] and Greg lied to us in front of 200 advisers at our conference. When the question was asked whether they were getting remuneration, the answer was no,” one adviser said.
Another Genesys adviser said: “They both lied. All the member firms are quite unhappy about this. We think they have got to go. I feel that they are definitely out of line with what they have done.”
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Creaser was also handed a payment of between $1.5 million to $2 million for his involvement with the dealer group.
Genesys has denied there is dissatisfaction among its member firms, claiming focus is now on the needs of the 370 advisers in its network.
“We have increased the range of programs available to firms and significantly increased the number of adviser-facing staff, with a range of specialist coaches now available for firms who wish to run more efficiently, grow their business and enhance the advice they give,” a Genesys spokesperson said.
“We have also put in place additional measures to increase the level of revenue share available to our member firms.”
