Earlier in her career Ms Choi La Rosa practiced as a financial planner, more recently working in program management, change and business readiness.

Prior to joining Paragem, Ms Choi La Rosa held management roles at BT Financial Group, Mercer and Citi Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley Wealth Management).

In her almost six years at BT Financial Group, Ms Choi La Rosa worked to redesign and increase efficiencies across advice documentation and policy, established business technology support services for advisers, and led advice operations transformation programs.

Paragem Managing Director Mr Nathan Jacobsen said the appointment reflects continued investment in providing services to advisers.

“We stand by the industry and our advisers during this period of change.  Ms Choi La Rosa’s experience and skillset supports further growth in our services to advisers.  We welcome her to the team and look forward to an exciting future in partnership with our advisers.”

Ms Choi La Rosa has an MBA with a specialisation in Technology from the University of New South Wales. She has a green belt in lean six sigma process improvement (UTS) and holds a Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning (FINSIA).

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Paragem, a licensee which provides comprehensive licensing solutions for professional financial advisers is a subsidiary of leading wealth management firm HUB24. It was announced in April that the business founders were stepping away from operational involvement, with Ian Knox remaining in the role of Chairman.

Mr Jacobsen was previously General Manager at Perpetual Private, where he was responsible for developing new market segments in its high net worth advice and trustee business. This included growing advisory services for medical specialists starting out in private practice as well as investment and trustee services for Indigenous communities looking to build greater financial sustainability.

Commenting on his appointment, HUB24 Group CEO, Andrew Alcock, said: “Nathan’s strong leadership, business strategy and experience growing advice businesses make him the perfect fit to take Paragem forward. It was also important for us to find someone who aligns with the culture and values that define Paragem.

“I’d like to thank Ian Knox, Charlie Haynes and the Paragem practices for building an exceptional licensee and we are looking forward to both Ian and Nathan’s leadership for Paragem’s ongoing growth and evolution.”

“More than ever, it is critical for licensees, advisers, platforms and technology providers to work hand-in-hand to create efficient and compliant business models. “There is a great opportunity for this industry to reshape how we provide great outcomes for our clients and both HUB24 and Paragem are committed to this goal.”

Mr Jacobsen will start at Paragem in September

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A former Hillross practice, Affinity obtained its own AFSL with Paragem earlier this year and is now one of the fastest growing private client firms in NSW with $250 million funds under advice on behalf of 300 clients.

Paragem Managing Director, Ian Knox, said Model Office provided planning practices with process improvements which lowered compliance and back office costs.

“The growing list of clients now using Model Office reflects growing demand from planners to streamline their businesses with simple and effective practice management tools,” Mr Knox said.

Managing partner of Affinity Wealth Services Keith Jones said the partnership with Paragem was a complement to Affinity’s independent and professional advice offering.

“We wanted to make sure our strong advice and investment service offering was supported by reliable operational systems and it was important that those systems enabled us to focus on the part of the business that is most important, providing advice and managing risk for clients,” said Mr Jones.

Advisers focus on risk management support
Melbourne-based, Carnbrea and Co. Limited has appointed Paragem to implement and maintain its risk management and compliance needs for its wealth management arm with a focus on governance and process improvement.

Carnbrea Chief Executive Officer, Robert Lyon said risk management had been a priority for the wealth manager, which has a well established presence dealing with family offices.

“Having previously used Paragem for our licence review, they were the natural choice to meet our broader compliance requirements. We’re looking forward to growing our business with the support of Paragem and the experience it brings dealing with complex and compliant advice models,” said Mr Lyon.

Mr Knox said Paragem was well placed to support Carnbrea as the practice sought to capture a slice of the rapidly growing family office sector in Australia.

“Outsourcing part of the compliance programme but linking it to internal requirements enables Carnbrea to access independent, high quality support and establish the necessary level of governance it demands,” concluded Mr Knox.

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Independent service provider Paragem is set to continue the strong growth in its dealer services and licensing businesses as reported in January this year, with five new planner practices currently in the process of securing their Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).

The increasing number of planners opting to break with product-aligned dealer groups in search of genuine, conflict free dealer services has seen Paragem, the largest independent provider of dealer services to the IFA market, introduce five AFSLs to its network in the last two months.

Paragem director, Ian Knox, said the growing number of practices joining the Paragem network was evidence of the demand being driven by clients, advisers and regulators for conflict free advice.

“As regulatory changes and Australian consumers increasingly demand conflict free financial advice, IFAs will be of growing importance to the financial services landscape, particularly in terms of building the community’s trust in our industry.  We are certainly seeing an uptick in demand from advisers wanting to make the move and we expect IFAs will become a larger part of the planning community in the future,” Mr Knox said.

David Smith of Hub Wealth Management, Paragem’s latest licencee, said he and business partner, Andrew Wiefler, were driven to seek out their own AFSL because it meant they could provide conflicted-free advice that is more tailored and relevant for clients.

“Obtaining our own AFSL has meant we have full flexibility to access an extensive array of quality research, while also conducting an in-depth review of the quality and cost of available administrative solutions.  This combination is critical when selecting optimal investment and strategy solutions for individual client needs.  It also means we can respond quickly to changing circumstances.  It all comes down to a firmer foundation from which to achieve better results for clients,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith said he was surprised to find the process was relatively straightforward.  “We went into this exercise expecting to be overwhelmed with admin and compliance but have found with the support of Paragem the process has been quite simple.  Yes, there are more responsibilities and obligations under your own AFSL  However, the freedom it provides so you can control your own destiny and clearly demonstrate to clients that our interests are aligned with theirs makes the extra effort worthwhile,” he said.

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Independent service provider Paragem today announced its Dealer Services and Wholesale AFSL businesses have recorded strong growth as demand from financial planners for genuine conflict-free dealer services accelerates to meet the surging consumer demand for independent advice.

Paragem Dealer Services virtual IFA network exceeds 200 licences

Paragem Dealer Services has announced a record increase of new clients in 2010 with over 200 AFSLs now operating within the groups shared service model.

Paragem Dealer Services is a virtual network of over 1,000 independently minded advisers and is the largest independent provider of dealer services to the IFA market. Paragem provides a broad range of back office dealer services to retail advice businesses to enable them to access scale benefits in professional areas such as compliance, software planning support, professional indemnity (Pl) insurance, professional development (PD) days and product research. Over 90% of the client base is boutique style planning practices with typically more than $50 million under advice per AFSL. The remaining 20% is mid tiered dealer networks looking to outsource selected dealer functions.

ACT’s leading planning practice Aset Wealth Management is the latest to join the network and has come from BT’s inhouse Licensee Select. Aset looks after over $350 million in funds under advice has 11 staff and uses Paragem for all back office service including strategy support on industry matters affecting planning businesses.

As the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms are implemented, Paragem managing director Ian Knox said learning how to operate profitably and independently from product manufacturers was one of a number of key challenges ahead for many IFAs and that Paragem is committed to supporting this cause through its professional services support

“IFAs will always stand up for the value of their advice, their business and their clients – this leaves them well positioned to champion non conflicted advice.” He pointed out that the market was transitioning quickly to a new paradigm such that while many advisers are still grappling with how to gain a share of the product margin, product manufacturers and private equity firms are reversing this and are now seeking to gain a share of the advice margin by investing in advice businesses. This positions IFAs really well as volume bonuses are eroded and advice fees increase he said.

“In our opinion the FoFA outcome will provide added stimulus for advisers to become independent – either by being self-licenced or under a conflict free licensing arrangement. We’ve been operating on this basis since Paragem was established in 2005 and are the only group able to support and champion advisers under either model,” he said.

Paragem Wholesale AFSL grows to $1.2 billion in FUA

Reflecting the growing desire among financial planners to provide conflict free advice, Paragem’s Wholesale AFSL service has grown from three to 13 practices over the last 18 months, delivering an increase in funds under advice (FUA) to $1.2 billion.

The service selectively wholesales its non-aligned AFSL to successful, independently minded practices which are striving for excellence in advice. Advisers have the freedom to run their own business, promote their brand and select the best platform and products for their clients’ needs in contrast to being part of an aligned dealership seeking to develop a large distribution network to promote funds into a given platform. Full licensing support and governance is part of the service benefit.

The Paragem Wholesale AFSL proposition has attracted the attention of some of the best practice heads in the country who are looking for leadership and support to build consumer confidence in planning. The most recent example joining the Wholesale AFSL is a collective group of four practices known as the FMD Group, formerly one of AMP Hillross’s largest and most successful practices with over $700million under advice.

FMD Group practice head Greg Fagan, said: “We looked for a strong governance based licensing arrangement that gave us full flexibility in the platform support we require, access to changing market developments such as IMA’s and access to a product suite unhindered by ownership politics. The wholesale licence provides this under Paragems custody and enables us to focus on offering the best advice to our clients and growing our practices profitably.”

Mr Knox said the changing regulatory landscape had contributed to the growing demand from practices wanting to join Paragem Wholesale AFSL and that the licence would continue to focus on high quality practices with cultural compatibility and like minded integrity.

“As FoFA unfolds we expect interest in our Wholesale AFSL business to grow as quality planning practices recognise the importance of removing perceived or real conflicts of interest with product promoters,” he said.

Despite the rise in expressions of interest for the AFSL, Mr Knox said Paragem has continued to screen practices for firms that demonstrate putting client interests first and that the licence had no intention on focussing on increased adviser numbers for the sake of size.

“There’s no correlation between good advice and large numbers of authorised representatives and yet the industry boasts about headcount as if to demonstrate success.

“Our strong compliance culture enables careful due diligence when we meet new practices and we take months to engage properly, this includes examining file histories and new practices being screened by other practices within the model. I don’t know how a dealer group can grow by hundreds and claim quality screening and quality assessment” he said. “Yet one bad apple contaminates a brand.”

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