Sentry Group is close to completing its planned in-house annual fee disclosure and opt-in system in order to meet the Future of Financial Advice requirements.
"We're getting ready for 1 July next year and we're just towards the finishing stages," Sentry chief executive Murray Hills told InvestorDaily.
"Our lawyers have been reviewing client service agreements and we've finished as much as we can do on those now."
The national dealer group originally intended to release its new agreements next month, but has chosen to wait for ASIC consultation papers, due in three to four weeks.
Advisers were looking to their dealer group to provide and implement the mechanics of annual fee disclosure statements and the opt-in process, Hills said.
"At the moment, I don't think many advisers are equipped to do that and the product manufacturers aren't going to do that either, so it comes back to us as the licensee," he said.
"We've got an IT company that we've been using, so we'll be able to produce that documentation and the revenue parts that we're required to disclose internally. We hope to have that ready over the next three months."
Larger dealer groups had the capital to provide the annual disclosure and opt-in, however, small groups would have a battle on their hands, he said.
"We've spent quite a lot of money, relative to our size, on this project over the last six months and [the cost] so far has been close to a quarter of a million dollars, which also covers over a licensee management system designed to meet compliance and risk management requirements," he said.
"It's ongoing and we're 90 per cent there, but with software it's a never-ending journey."
As well as the new software offer, Sentry has also signed a joint venture with business succession consulting group Succession Plus to strengthen its advisers' skills and expertise in the area.
The program's workshops will run over the next nine months.
