Australian Financial Services Group (AFS) will not forfeit its adviser growth plans while it undertakes an in-depth business review and internal restructure, the group’s new chief executive has said.
“We’ve got about 170 letter of authority holders but we’ve had a couple of advisers join us just in the last few weeks so we’re certainly not looking to put growth plans on hold,” AFS chief executive Alan Logan told InvestorDaily.
His comments follow the dealer group’s announcement on Friday that it would be undertaking a strategic review, assisted by Seaview Consulting, as well as an internal restructure.
As part of the restructure, the company said Mark Ryan’s role as head of distribution been made redundant.
Logan said no further departures or new hires were envisaged for the group at this stage.
“[Regarding] any sort of broader distribution overhaul that may happen, we’ll wait until we work through the options,” he said.
“At this stage, nothing is further envisaged right now.”
Logan took up the role in early September this year and has since been meeting with AFS advisers to get a sense of their businesses and relationships.
“They’re rightly [concerned] and asking me what AFS’s views are strategically for the future and how we will support them going forward,” he said.
“There’s nothing surprising there as obviously, AFS has had a bit of a tumultuous time over an extended period and so our advisers are very keen to get a sense of what leadership style I’m bringing to the table and what kind of person I am.”
Commenting on whether he was concerned that its advisers would leave for other licensees during the business review and restructure, Logan said AFS was no different to other dealer groups who were being reassessed by advisers to determine whether they would be sufficiently supported in the future.
“It’s an incredibly competitive environment so any licensee that is taking their relationships with their advisers for granted is in danger of losing them,” he said.
“They’re keen to know who they’re going to deal with. Every adviser, not just AFS advisers, is asking what are the high-value [factors] that a licensee can assist with for the business and what are the baseline services.”
The purpose of the strategic review was to determine a range of options and economic models, which would be brought to its advisers and key stakeholders to evaluate, Logan said, adding that he could not make any predictions as to what the outcome could be.
“We haven’t worked out what position we want to get to, that’s really the purpose of the business review,” he said.
“The entire industry has to evolve and AFS needs to be very clear about what value we offer advisers and the economic model that backs that up.”
Logan will continue to meet with AFS advisers in Western Australia and South Australia, with the company’s annual general meeting will be held later this week.
