Battle for Count hearts and minds begins

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has given Count Financial planners food for thought at the dealer group’s recent annual conference but independence remains the elephant in the room.

While a regular attendee of Count’s annual conference, which concluded in Brisbane on Friday, described the mood among planners as “apprehensive”, new Count Financial chief executive officer David Lane was upbeat about the event.

Lane, who was appointed to the role in December 2011, said the conference had been a good opportunity for him to meet planners and outline the road ahead.

CBA made a total of nine announcements over the duration of the conference, with the most significant being that the FirstChoice Wholesale platform would be available to Count planners.

This will initially mean a 20-basis-point discount on all CBA/Colonial FirstState funds bought through the platform, although the group’s commitment to open-architecture product lists means it will need to find a way to bring other products into line with this discounted price.

“We found Count’s pricing was at the higher end and it makes sense to start with Colonial products,” said Lane.

While the new offerings were generally welcomed, several Count planners expressed surprise that BT Financial Group (BTFG) was excluded from the conference given the amount of business the dealer group has with its wrap service.

“There was a feeling that BT should have been there,” said one Count planner who asked not to be identified.

Five Count practices recently defected to BTFG’s dealer group, Magnitude, but Lane refused to be drawn on how many planners and planning groups he expects to leave the dealer group.

“I don’t want to look at this with a view to attrition rate,” he told PPO, adding that at least 10 new planning practices were represented at the conference, with some expected to join by June.

CBA’s commitment to keeping Count “squarely in the centre of the accounting space” and enhanced support services may be attractive to new members but it is the June and December loyalty payments and support in adapting to the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms that is most likely to keep planning practices in the fold – at least for the immediate future.

Count Financial presently comprises about 300 members and 600 financial planners.