Queensland-based dealership Futuro Financial Services has asked fund managers to pay to play in a lucrative dollars for product support deal.
In a three-day whistlestop tour, licensee executives met with fund managers in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to ask for financial support.
In return, they would receive lists of Futuro Financial Services authorised representatives, have easy access to advisers, attend monthly planner meetings and access the investment committee.
Sponsoring fund managers would also be allowed to supply material for newsletters and attend conferences and its business directions forum.
All the sponsorship dollars will be ploughed into conferences and training, not added to the bottom line, Futuro Financial Services managing director Dennis Bashford said.
"If you're truly proactive in your endeavours in creating relationships with our network, we'll be truly proactive in supporting you," Bashford told fund managers in Sydney yesterday.
As well as a cash influx, the licensee will benefit from quality products and from fund manager representatives showing advisers how to best use products in a client's portfolio.
Bashford told InvestorDaily the sponsorship program would not compromise Futuro's independence.
"We want to make sure people sponsoring us get an advantage. We want to ensure fund managers get value for money without jeopardising what's in the clients' best interests," Bashford said.
Fund managers who do not provide sponsorship will not be victimised.
Their products will not be taken off the approved product lists and advisers will not be discouraged from liaising with them.
"We are not going to pair our product lists to exclude advisers using those products. If we tried to do that, we'd have a revolt in our ranks," Bashford said.
"There are some people who will have products that are best on the market and advisers will certainly be encouraged to use them, despite the fact that they are not sponsors."
Bashford declined to say how much funding it sought to attract.
Futuro has representatives in all Australian states, apart from Tasmania. Since its inception in July 2002, it has grown to 56 planners and $1.3 billion in funds under administration.
