Fortnum’s management, staff and financial advisers raised the capital to buy out ANZ, who originally backed the dealer group in 2010.

Fortnum Financial Group executive chairman Ray Miles thanked ANZ for its early support but said the Fortnum Group had evolved in line with the changing needs and wants of clients.

“Our goal has always been to provide world class, objective financial advice, and our clients and member firms felt it was essential to standalone, unencumbered by institutional ties,” he said.

“Fortnum has always had a client-first strategy, which aims to drive margins and hidden fees out of products to protect the adviser/client relationship.”

Miles said the Company received overwhelming support from staff and advisers for the offer which reflected their confidence and conviction in Fortnum’s current business model and long term future.

Around 80 per cent of the Company’s 28 practices and 87 financial planners, and selected staff nationally participated in the scheme to purchase ANZ’s Class C shareholding.

Fortnum chief operating officer and head of finance, Ian White – who played a key role in the deal – added that Fortnum’s ownership structure placed it in a strong position to continue growing and recruiting new practices.

“We believe Fortnum’s open and transparent model will resonate with an increasing number of advisers,” he said.

Miles said Fortnum’s independently-owned structure, client-centric and collegiate culture, and Charter of Independence presented a unique and compelling value proposition in a market saturated with institutionally-owned dealer groups. He said an increasing number of advisers were agitating to break-away from institutional control and influence, which would  only intensify over the next few years.

“We want to partner with advice businesses who want to be part of an innovative, independently-owned licensee,” he said. “We will be selective but we want to attract high quality advice firms as we move into the next stage of our growth. We have spent the last two years consolidating the business and developing a range of innovative advice tools for our practices.”

Miles cited the June appointment of former MLC business growth manager Joel Taylor to the newly-created position of national sales manager as evidence of the Company’s commitment to growth.

ANZ will continue to provide dealer-to-dealer services to Fortnum.

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Taylor joins Fortnum from NAB Wealth & MLC where he was business growth manager for New South Wales. In that role, he was responsible for recruiting established practices into MLC’s network of aligned licensees.

Taylor also helped businesses to develop and implement strategic marketing plans, advice and service offerings, client value propositions and market segmentation strategies.

At Fortnum, Taylor will report to executive chairman Ray Miles and chief executive of Fortnum’s portfolio management and administration business e-Clipse Online, Brett Westbrook.

He will have dual responsibility for building relationships with new and existing member firms, and marketing and distributing the e-Clipse unified managed account (UMA) to the Independent Financial Adviser market.

The e-Clipse UMA is a professional managed investment service that can accommodate a wide range of investments including managed investments, shares, term deposits and cash within a single account. The UMA is a proprietary system which provides consolidated reporting of holdings, transactions and taxation.

“Joel has extensive experience recruiting, and consulting to, small-to-medium-sized enterprises, and he has an indepth understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face financial advisory business today,” Westbrook said.

“He was the ideal candidate to help drive the growth of e-Clipse Online as well as recruit new like-minded practices.”

Prior to joining Fortnum Group, Taylor also held various roles at AMP and Beacon Investment Management.

“In a crowded market, Fortnum stands out as an advisory business which is committed to helping advisers deliver objective, quality advice that is in clients’ best interests,” Taylor said.

“Growth continues to be a key focus, and we’re looking for profitable, fee-for-service businesses that want to grow in a supportive and collegiate environment.”

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