IOOF-owned Lonsdale Financial Group has lost one of its largest practices to newcomer, Bombora Advice.
Melbourne-based risk specialist, Complete Risk Analysis, which is run by principal adviser Glenn Kerr and chief executive Nettie Handley, is the first member firm to join Bombora Advice since it opened for business in May.
Complete Risk Analysis has six advisers and eight support staff, providing advice to clients of 55 referring partners across Victoria and New South Wales.
Kerr said the company’s move to Bombora Advice had been “overwhelmingly supported” by its referral partners, advisers and clients, who were attracted to the licensee’s “independence of institutional alignment and influence”.
Bombora Advice was established by former MLC executive and general manager of Apogee, Wayne Handley, who is married to Nettie Handley.
According to Wayne Handley, pictured right, the dealer group is finalising arrangements with “a number” of other practices, with further announcements expected in the coming weeks.
He said there was considerable adviser demand for specialist licensees, evidenced by the resurgence of risk-only dealer groups.
“Specialisation is the way to go and our mantra is ‘collaborative advice, working with fellow professionals’,” he said.
“A specialist risk dealer is not a new concept and others have gone to market with similar propositions. However, what makes us different is our proven systems and processes and the fact we’re decoupled from the institutions.”
Handley said Bombora Advice would pursue slow and steady growth, and did not have a specific target in terms of adviser numbers. He added that it would never get as big as Apogee, which had around 180 advisers when Handley resigned as the group’s managing director in March 2012.
“We want to attract quality practices over a period of time and we’re not in a hurry,” he said. “Our recruitment strategy is not about numbers, but about finding the right people.”
Bombora Advice has an open-architecture model, which gives member firms the freedom to form and maintain relationships with product and service providers. It charges a flat licensing fee.
