Walking down the Yellow Brick Road worked out well for Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and now financial advisers will have a similar opportunity courtesy of Mark Bouris.
A path to the Emerald City is not for everyone, but Yellow Brick Road Wealth Management believes there are enough fellow travellers “disaffected by the system” to join its crusade.
The company is targeting qualified finance-industry professionals who are looking for an alternative to the institutional jobs offered by the major banks.
It proposes a flexible financial advisory model that works, in theory, with the company’s existing national branch network to service clients at the time and place of their preference.
Or, as executive chairman Mark Bouris, puts it: “Wealth Agents is a new concept to the Australian market and it’s been created from demand on both sides – from finance professionals who are disheartened and disappointed by the lack of product choice offered by the banks, and from consumers who want an expert in their area who will visit them at night or on weekends.”
“Wealth Agents gives ex-bankers, new mums, private wealth guys and anyone else who has been disaffected by the system the opportunity to service their clients the way they want, with no hidden agendas or one-size-fits-all products,” he added.
Wealth Agents in your home
The Yellow Brick Road recruitment strategy is a reaction to the present environment, which has seen the major banks slash over 6600 jobs last financial year, and Perpetual also cutting jobs.
Yellow Brick Road Wealth Agents is being punted as a solution for mums and dads with young families who want a flexible way to supplement their household income.
“It is an opportunity for longstanding bank employees and private bankers with decades of experience who have been made redundant in favour of younger, less expensive cadets,” said the company in a statement.
Yellow Brick Road currently boasts a distribution footprint of over 130 branches and licensees nationally, and this latest push is targeting suburban communities that it believes the major banks have ignored.
“This isn’t just about mortgages. That is only one part of it,” said Bouris. “This is about giving people advice and solutions to make a difference in their lives.
“It’s about having a Wealth Agent who will come to you at your home on a Saturday afternoon or after work and give you the right advice at a price you can afford. The recent influx of enquires we’ve received is proof that people want an alternative to what’s out there. This initiative gives them that choice.”
Customers are not numbers
Ex-Westpac employee Effie Nicol was one of the early adopters of the program and has become an advocate of the initiative.
“I left Westpac to join Yellow Brick Road because I saw it as an exciting opportunity for me to run my own small business,” says Nicol. “Banks are restricted and can’t support customers outside the square. My customers mean a lot to me and I wanted to be able to work with them for the long term and not just treat them like a number.”
To become a Wealth Agent, advisers must have or be ready to obtain a Certificate IV in finance and mortgage broking and/or RG146 qualifications.
FPA against profits? Hardly. I think the position has always been that running a highly profitable business that delivers great advice in the clients best interests needn’t be mutually exclusive.
As for whether YBR will get sold to the banks, my feeling is the motivation for success is more about sticking two fingers up at those who now control Wizard. I’d be surprised if Mark Bouris went down that route again. Once bitten and all that.
Not unless you had shares in YBR you wouldn’t be! FOFA has created this left wing frowning upon profits attitude in the industry. Just remember we are here to make money for our clients and in the process for ourselves and if advisers dont survive clients dont get advice.
FOFA isn’t frowning on profits, it’s making things transparent.
Advisers can charge as much as they want, clients will be in a better position to assess the value when things are more transparent. Guess it all depends on how you look at it, a threat or an opportunity…