- Fortnum Restructures for Growth;
- YBR Gears Up for Major Marketing Push;
- GPS Wealth Welcomes 30 New Practices
Fortnum Restructures for Growth
Fortnum Financial Group has restructured its financial planning arm, appointing four new staff and creating a number of new roles.
The restructure will enable Fortnum Financial Group Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, Ray Miles, to step back from the day to day running of Fortnum Financial Advisers, to focus on leading the whole group (which includes research consultancy Innova Asset Management and technology provider e-Clipse Online). Fortnum also expects the new executive team will help to position the Group for future growth.
- National Sales Manager, Joel Taylor, has been promoted to the newly created role of Managing Director, where he will continue to report to Mr Miles.
- Ex-Shadforth Financial Group Regional Practice Manager, Elva Pica, will assume the new position of Advice Implementation Manager.
- Kristina Coffey joins Fortnum from the Commonwealth Bank to take on the role of Licensee Relationship Manager.
- Former consultant, Jonathan Burke, has been appointed as Technical Advice Specialist.
In September, Fortnum Financial Advisers will also welcome Managing Director of Henry Financial Group, Phil Little, to the team as Business Growth Manager. He will work closely with Mr Taylor to help practices improve their productivity and profitability as well as recruit new advisers.
“We are focused on partnering with advisers to help them deliver great advice to clients and continue growing their businesses,” Mr Taylor said.
He described the group’s expanded practice management team, which also included business coach Scott Charlton, as one of the “largest, strongest and most experienced teams in the country”.
“Many of the practices we attract are large and growing businesses with significant top line revenue and our goal is to help them achieve 15 per cent growth year on year by providing practice management services and training so they’re resourced and empowered to deliver of great advice,” Mr Taylor said.
YBR Gears Up for Major Marketing Push
Yellow Brick Road has trebled its marketing investment in a bid to significantly grow client numbers.
At the heart of the new marketing strategy is the latest season of Celebrity Apprentice Australia, featuring YBR Executive Chairman, Mark Bouris. The TV series will showcase YBR branch owners as ‘local experts’, and also promote YBR’s ‘robo-advice’ service, Guru.
“Celebrity Apprentice has always been great for business and driving growth. This year Yellow Brick Road will play a bigger role in the program. The impact will put us as a business in the national spotlight with a significantly bigger media spend supporting the program,” Mr Bouris said.
“Now with a deep footprint of neighbourhood based branches across every state and territory, the brand is well recognised and our competitive products and services rival any financial institution. With these factors in place, we are ready to push on the accelerator and take new territory from the big banks. To achieve this we are tripling our marketing spend and putting some real marketing firepower behind the brand,” he added.
The campaign will also see advertising across television and digital channels.
GPS Wealth Welcomes 30 New Practices
Independently-owned financial planning group, GPS Wealth, has welcomed 30 new accounting practices in the last 12 months, on the back of its new licensing offer.
From 1 July 2016, accountants providing financial product advice must operate under an appropriate Australian Financial Services License (AFSL). GPS Wealth has developed two licensing offers for accountants: a limited authority, which has been the most popular option to date, and a full authority.
“There’ll be an explosion of accountants looking to become licenced for the first time, ahead of July 1, 2016,” said GPS Wealth co-founder, Greg Holman. “Accountants who get licensed early can get a big jump on their competitors and demonstrate that they are a true leader in the accounting profession.”
GPS Wealth is also offering two-day intensive RG 146 courses, and an induction program focused on the regulatory compliance framework.
“The new licensing requirements should be seen by accountants as a tremendous opportunity to expand their service offer, provide a more holistic advice proposition, diversify and lift their revenue, and boost the valuation of their practices,” Mr Holman said.
“A good quality adviser and accountant working together is a very powerful proposition for the client and will deliver improved outcomes. Accountants who partner with an independently-owned dealer group and/or suitably qualified adviser may also derive a significant increase in revenue.”
