Hillross Financial Services will acquire IRIS Financial Group as part of its move towards double-digit revenue growth.
As part of the agreement, IRIS customers will have additional access to the Hillross suite of products and services. In addition, IRIS says its advisers will have the necessary scale and resources to grow their businesses, while retaining their self-employed model.
Speaking to the media last week, Hillross Managing Director, Hugh Humphrey, indicated that the group was targeting significant growth, to be generated through practice on-boarding and acquisitions.
We’ve got targets around increasing the number of clients who receive advice from Hillross
“We’ve got targets around increasing the number of clients who receive advice from Hillross,” Mr Humphrey said.
He added that the group was honing its skills in on-boarding to help businesses transition as smoothly as possible, and that there was “quite a bit of interest in the Hillross proposition given the uncertainty in the market”.
Mr Humphrey believes that interest may be due to the need for a strong brand for advice businesses in the current market. “Times change and I think at points in time it might be important for people to have bespoke, individually branded practices. I think now… in a FoFA environment, having the stability and the certainty of a strong licensee… and knowing that AMP is standing behind Hillross, is very important.”
In alignment with Hillross’ offering, all IRIS practices have already begun the process of moving to a fee for service model, which is due to be completed by the end of the year.
IRIS advisers will also be required to hold a membership with an association, such as the FPA or AFA, which Mr Humphrey said is a mandatory requirement for all those working under the Hillross license.
“We’ve made a pretty clear declaration around the importance of professionalism, and having and holding very high standards – and by doing so not just generating advantage for our own clients and business but actually helping the whole industry as a profession,” he said.
IRIS has 37 advisers, operating across Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales, and is responsible for $2.2 billion funds under management.
Subject to certain conditions, the completion of the acquisition is expected by August 2011.
