US Milestone for Aussie Firm

Business Health has just announced an extension to its relationship with a leading firm operating within the US financial services sector.

The Aussie business, which exports a range of tools that assist US distributors to operate more efficiently and improve their bottom line, has renewed its partnership with pension and retirement plan provider John Hancock Retirement.

“After 20-plus years of working with John Hancock, we are delighted that we’re able to continue our relationship, which has become such an integral part of the Hancock offer to its leading Third Party Administrator (TPA) firms,” said Business Health partner, Rod Bertino.

Initially the founders of Business Health had turned to the US hoping to learn lessons to bring back home. However, they soon realised Australian firms were ahead of their US counterparts in many respects.

A subsequent visit to the US laid the groundwork for what was to come.

“We had been referred to the head of distribution for a major manufacturer who openly shared with us his challenge of distributing what was perceived at the time to be poorly performing products to the independent adviser market,” said Bertino.

“His wholesaler team needed a point of difference, something, as he described it, to garner the attention of the owner and decision maker at the firm.

“He asked if we could help, and through a number of discussions we settled on ‘practice management/best practice’ as a strategy.”

Our tools and diagnostics were fully customised to accommodate the US market…

It was Business Health’s first hook into the US. As word spread about their services, Bell and Bertino were subsequently contacted by John Hancock and their ongoing 25-year association begun.

“We were one of the first companies in the US to offer a program solely focused at helping advice firms build and grow their business that is completely product and platform agnostic,” said Bertino.

“Our tools and diagnostics were fully customised to accommodate the US market in general and John Hancock in particular, and have been complemented over time through industry presentations, owner workshops, and onsite B2B consults.”

Companies retain Business Health to deliver value-add programs for financial advisers, terminology the American’s use to distinguish the firm’s offerings from a product, platform or technical feature.

They pay us to provide a value-add above and beyond their core products,” said Bertino. “And in return, their advisers receive insights they can use to build better businesses and have better client relationships.

“Hancock, to its credit, has continued to invest in providing that resource to advisers, in the spirit of partnering with their top firms.”