Angus Benbow, Simon Hoyle, Tom Reddacliff: Partner for success: choosing a licensee

It’s time for advisers and practice owners to take their destiny into their own hands and choose a licensee structure that is befitting of where they and the broader profession is heading. This session considers how to conduct appropriate due diligence and what to do if a practice feels they have rushed into an inopportune arrangement.

SPEAKERS
Angus Benbow, chief executive, Centrepoint Alliance
Simon Hoyle, head of market insight, CoreData
Tom Reddacliff, executive chairman, Encore Advisory Group
Moderator: Matthew Smith, director, retail content, Conexus Financial

PAPER
To self-license or join a licensee?

Key Takeaways

• A confluence of factors including declining adviser numbers, increased competition and the evolution of licensee models is giving advisers increased leverage over licensees, with advisers on the move getting more judicious about their dealer group selection.
• Competition is key part of the changing dynamic as declining adviser numbers continue to reduce the pool of clients that licensees can attract, according to CoreData’s Simon Hoyle
• Angus Benbow, the chief executive of mid-sized licensee Centrepoint Alliance, said advisers are also becoming more demanding of quality services to help them navigate a changing and challenging advice landscape, which is putting pressure on dealer groups to up their game.
• Benbow added that as licensees continue to eliminate conflicted product subsidies from their balance sheet, not only do they need to charge advisers more, but the onus is on them to make sure the advisers aren’t missing out on any services they are used to receiving.
• Encore Advisory managing director Tom Reddacliff made the point that the gradual elimination of product subsidies at the dealer group level is moving the AFSL system towards what he calls “true economics”.