Around 20 RI Advice practices are considering breaking away from the ANZ-owned dealer group, with accusations of mis-management, broken promises and a lack of investment into the group’s OneAnswer platforms.
The 20 RI Advice proprietors including representatives from the group’s Proprietors’ Advisory Council will meet next month to discuss their future with ANZ.
It is understood that one key complaint is over the group’s new licensee agreement, which came into effect early last year and asked advisers to choose between a standard and premium offer.
The premium package came with a premium price tag but allowed advisers to use numerous platforms and retain platform rebates. Under the standard package, advisers would use primarily ANZ-owned platforms and products, and forgo volume rebates, in exchange for considerably lower dealer fees.
According to a source close to ANZ, the majority of RI Advice proprietors’ opted for the standard package after the bank vowed it would also make significant enhancements to its flagship OneAnswer platform; help facilitate succession planning and practice development; and maintain separation of its wealth management arm OnePath from the bank by investing in the OnePath brand.
It would also make upgrades to front-end software X-Plan.
However, some proprietors’ claim the bank has failed to keep its promises. Instead it is focused on distributing its new low cost retail MySuper offering ANZ Smart Choice Super. The product, which is targeted at the bank’s retail deposit clients, is sold online and through ANZ Bank branches but is not available to the RI Advice network.
A steady stream of advisers have recently left RI Advice including Craig Ralph and David Taylor, who left RI Advice Donvale in July to set up Financial Lifestyle Partners under Westpac’s Securitor licensee, according to their LinkedIn profiles. RI Advice Donvale was the 2012 RI Advice Practice of the Year. Similarly, principal of the 2011 RI Advice Practice of the Year, Grant Howe, left RI Advice Burnie/Devonport recently to establish Zenith Wealth under the Hillross banner.
In 2012, former principal of RI Advice Epping and chair of the Proprietors’ Advisory Council, Simon Hanley, followed Paul Fogden, formerly principal of RI Advice in Sutherland, to AMP’s iPac.
Further restructuring of ANZ Wealth and OnePath is expected to be announced imminently as the bank moves to cut up to $20 million from its expense line.
In October Greg Hansen, ANZ head of business transformation, advice and distribution, and Charles Smith, head of Aligned Licensees Business Growth at ANZ Wealth were made redundant in a restructure. This followed the September resignation of Paul Barrett, ANZ managing director, global advice and distribution, who was replaced by Neil Younger.
In December, career banker Kerri Thompson was appointed managing director, ANZ Bancassurance and Customer Experience, reporting to ANZ Global Wealth chief executive Joyce Phillips. Part of Thompson’s role is to cross sell ANZ products to customers.
“We created this role to help us further transform the way in which we engage with our customers and deepen the relationships we have the ANZ’s existing customer base,” Phillips said last year about Thompson’s appointment.
A spokesperson from ANZ was unavailable.
