Mr Younger will work closely with Fortnum Financial Advisers managing director Joel Taylor, Innova Asset Management managing director Dan Miles and group chairman Ray Miles.

“Neil is a well-regarded, experienced wealth management executive with proven skills across a range of areas and we’re fortunate to be able to attract someone of his calibre to take Fortnum to the next stage,” Ray Miles said.

“Neil’s appointment enables me to step back from the day-to-day operation of the Fortnum group to focus on my core skill set of recruiting advisers and working with our practices.”

He added that while Fortnum had established a comprehensive, award-winning licensing and dealer services’ solution, considerable growth opportunities lay ahead and the business had plans to lead the evolution of the professional services advice firms.

“We believe in a complete end-to-end solution for clients and business life stage solutions for our advisers. Neil’s brief is to lead the ongoing development and implementation of those solutions,” he said.

Mr Younger, who has held senior wealth management roles at ANZ, BT Financial Group and Commonwealth Bank, comes to Fortnum with deep expertise in the areas of licensee management and advice. He also has considerable Board and Responsible Management experience.

“Fortnum is a quality business with considerable growth opportunities and I’m excited about working with Ray, Joel, Dan and the team to take the group forward,” Mr Younger said.

“As the industry continues to respond to evolving client expectations and businesses to a very different operating environment, advice specialist businesses such as Fortnum are well placed to evolve solutions and to lead. As a licensee with a client-centric mindset, and a proven record of helping professional services firms grow, Fortnum has a compelling offer and is in a strong position to continue to attract quality advisers.”

The post Former ANZ Managing Director to lead expansion for Fortnum Financial Group appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Joel Taylor

Boutique advisory firm Cardena Private Wealth, formerly trading as Arrive Wealth Management Sydney, has joined non-institutionally owned licensee Fortnum Financial Advisers, signalling an exciting new era in the practice’s growth and direction.

Prior to joining Fortnum, the team at Cardena Private Wealth had been authorised by AMP’s Hillross dealer group for 14 years.

Director of Cardena Private Wealth Jonathan Kilborn said the move to Fortnum positioned the business strongly to continue delivering quality professional advice and best-of-breed services to high net worth individuals and families.

“We considered all our options, including applying for our own AFSL, and conducted an extensive review of the market before deciding to partner with Fortnum,” he said.

“Fortnum’s core values, operating model and ownership structure align with our core values and requirements. We wanted a licensee that was not part of a financial institution and had a long proven track record of successfully running a dealer group and overseeing the provision of client centric financial advice.”

“Fortnum will support us to focus on growing the business while doing what we do best, which is look after our clients.”

Managing director of Fortnum Financial Advisers Joel Taylor said: “We are extremely pleased to have a high quality professional services firm like Cardena join Fortnum. We are very selective of the practices we take on and our advisers set a high bar in terms of professionalism. Cardena is a great fit.

“It is an exceptional business with a great team of people.”

Mr Taylor said Fortnum continued to experience strong momentum and was well positioned for future growth.

The post Former Hillross practice joins Fortnum appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Joel Taylor

Independently-owned dealer group Fortnum Financial Advisers has expanded its footprint in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney with the addition of five quality practices joining the group’s boutique offering, FPSA Group Pty Ltd (FPSA).

LifeGuard Financial Services, APS Financial Planning and Mornington Financial Services in Melbourne, Redthorn Private Wealth in Adelaide, and The Money Barre in Sydney have all joined Fortnum/FPSA in the last six months, citing the group’s non-institutional ownership, collaborative culture and client-first focus as key reasons.

Joel Taylor, managing director of Fortnum Financial Advisers and FPSA said the group represented the next generation of professional advisory firms, adding that the average age of an FPSA adviser was 41 years old.

This is considerably below the average age of an Australian financial planner which the Financial Services Council estimated to be around 55 years old.

“We’re excited to have such high quality, established practices on board, which reflects our commitment to only appoint like-minded advisers who want to be an active part of our collaborative network,” he said.

“Fortnum and FPSA is a community of advisers who are passionate about providing professional advice and delivering better client outcomes.”

According to Andrew Fenton, principal of Mornington Financial Services, FPSA and Fortnum’s “new world” approach ensured that advisers had a high degree of transparency around deals at the licensee level which meant fee discounts negotiated were passed onto the end client.

“Fortnum uses its scale to get a better deal for clients which is very different to the old world approach where dealer groups kept margins and splits,” he said.

“Fortnum and FPSA are focused on adding value for advisers and clients, and that also involves providing practice management and client engagement tools to ensure we’re running efficient, profitable and growing businesses”.

Tim Foster, principal of APS Financial Planning – formerly one of Patron’s top 10 practices – said he was attracted to the group’s independent ownership structure and “simple, client-focused proposition” that promoted unbiased, professional advice.

“Fortnum/FPSA has an open, straightforward model that releases me to provide advice and recommend products and strategies that are best for my clients,” he said.

“The support I receive is outstanding and nothing is ever too much trouble.” Mr Fenton, who received Futuro’s True Adviser Award in 2015, added that in an uncertain and rapidly changing environment, licensees needed to be dynamic and innovative to ensure their advisers weren’t disadvantaged or left behind.

“It’s easy to see how an adviser quietly running their own business can get caught out when the world changes,” he said.

“Advisers who want to continue growing need a tribe of like-minded people around them, supporting them. In the last year alone my business has changed significantly which is why I need a licensee that embraces technology and is committed to bringing me to best solutions in the market.”

The post Fortnum/FPSA wraps up stellar financial year with five new practices appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Joel Taylor

Former Guardian Advice practice Griffin Financial Services has joined leading non-institutionally owned dealer group, Fortnum Financial Advisers, following an extensive review of the market.

The award winning Sydney-based practice, which specialises in advising wealth accumulators and UK expats, is run by principal Scott Dawkins who received Guardian’s Professional Excellence Award in 2014. Dawkins also received Guardian’s Rising Star Award in 2013, after being named a finalist in the 2012 AFA Rising Star Award. He is joined by senior adviser Matt Bradley.

Fortnum managing director Joel Taylor said: “Scott and Matt are a great cultural fit for Fortnum. They’re passionate about providing quality, professional advice that will make a real difference in their clients’ lives, and we’re extremely excited to have them on board,” he said.

“Fortnum has a great mix of highly experienced mature advisers and younger advisers like Scott and Matt who represent the next generation of professionals rising up in the industry. At Fortnum, we encourage and foster collaboration and the sharing of ideas and experiences across our network which now also includes our new subsidiary, Financial Planning Services Australia.”

Mr Dawkins described Fortnum as the “standout” licensee, after a “very disruptive” period following Guardian’s decision late last year to exit financial planning.

“It was clear that we needed to join a profitable, independently-owned licensee with a broad approved product list and a firm commitment to advice for the long term,” he said.

“The values that Fortnum upholds and the autonomy it gives advisers, within the parameters of a robust professional advice framework, really resonated with me. Fortnum is big enough to provide the services and support we need but small enough to be nimble, dynamic and adapt to change.”

Mr Taylor added that an important part of Fortnum’s growth strategy was to recruit more likeminded professional young advisers as well as mature advisers with established practices.

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Joel Taylor

Leading non-institutionally owned licensee Fortnum Financial Advisers has developed an innovative professional advice framework in partnership with consultancy Good Advice Solutions, which is designed to help advisers accurately diagnose a client’s financial needs, meet their legal responsibilities and ultimately protect and grow their businesses.

As part of the project, Fortnum has also built a customised Xplan site in conjunction with Opex Consulting to seamlessly integrate front office client-facing activities and the back office.

The powerful combination of the Fortnum Professional Advice Framework and the enhanced Xplan interface forms the foundation of a fresh-look Fortnum with an invigorated commitment to helping advisers achieve deeper client engagement and efficiently deliver quality, compliant advice leading to improved outcomes, said managing director Joel Taylor.

“Many advisers are using an off-the-shelf advice framework supplied to them by an institutionally owned dealer group and engineered to result in the sale of financial product,” he said.

“As a non-institutionally owned licensee, we’ve custom-built an operational framework for the provision of advice which ensures improved outcomes for clients.”

Director of Good Advice Guyon Cates said the new advice platform would allow advisers to uncover a client’s true needs, identify their most pressing issues, and better demonstrate the value of strategic advice.

“The fundamental purpose of the new framework is to give advisers the tools to uncover what’s really going on in a person’s financial life because unless an adviser fully understands a client’s situation, they’re not in a position to act in their best interest,” he said.

“Ironically, the best way for advisers to meet their regulatory obligations is to look at the client through a professional lens, not a legislative lens, and really get to know them in order to determine the advice they require.”

The integrated platform includes a revamped Statement of Advice template, featuring a Better Position Statement which highlights key information upfront in an easy-to-read format. Xplan has also been configured to include a Working Document function for advisers to make, store and retrieve detailed file notes of any research, information and analysis conducted to derive an advice recommendation.

This additional step in the advice process aims to protect advisers against potential complaints or claims in the future by ensuring they’re able to produce evidence to support advice recommendations.

Elva Pica, Fortnum’s advice implementation manager, said the integrated advice framework protected both advisers and their clients, and would lift a practice’s operational efficiency, ultimately leading to higher productivity and an uptick in revenue.

“The new Xplan interface boasts improved design and usability, and allows advisers to tailor Xplan to administer their practice’s systems and processes,” she said.

“Using the advanced functionality of Xplan, our practices will be able to reduce the time and costs associated with delivering advice to their clients. Not only will this benefit their bottom line but it allows them to develop a uniquely customised solution which adds a point of difference in the marketplace.”

Fortnum’s new advice platform will be rolled out across the group’s Fortnum Private Wealth and FPSA network over the next few months.

The move follows Fortnum’s recent decision to end its longstanding dealer services arrangement with ANZ Wealth, under which Fortnum leveraged the bank’s advice systems and processes.

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Joel Taylor

Independently-owned dealer group Financial Planning Services Australia (FPSA) has successfully transitioned to Fortnum Financial Advisers’ Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) and launched a refreshed licensee offer.

A number of original FPSA practices, including Sydney-based First Unity and Brisbane-based Kent Private Wealth, have already transitioned to the new FPSA entity under Fortnum.

Fortnum has also invited two institutionally-aligned practices to join FPSA and is receiving applications from the external market.

Fortnum and FPSA managing director Joel Taylor said the revamped FPSA would ultimately be made up of around 20 high quality foundation practices.

“FPSA is a high quality, sustainable proposition and we’re interested in talking to advisers who match our innovative, collaborative, client-first culture,” he said.

“We recognised that not all practices suited the Fortnum model which is why FPSA is such an important part of Fortnum Financial Group’s overall proposition. FPSA is a new offer for advisers who want to partner with an independently-owned licensee and want support to grow their business and provide quality, client-centric advice but who may not fit Fortnum Private Wealth’s hallmark comprehensive, high-touch offer.”

According to Tim Reppen, First Unity senior adviser and FPSA director, the partnership between FPSA and Fortnum is a great strategic fit with many FPSA advisers early to mid-career and focused on continuing to build high quality, sustainable businesses.

“Our new relationship with Fortnum provided an opportunity to enhance FPSA’s existing boutique offer while leveraging the strength and influence of the broader Fortnum Group. By tapping into the scale of the Fortnum Group, FPSA will benefit from increased buying power to deliver even more effective client solutions,” Reppen said.

“Fortnum is a group that simply gets things done. They’re willing and able to invest the time and resources required to stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.”

The new FPSA entity will be jointly owned by Fortnum and FPSA principal practices with netwealth continuing to provide a range of platform, managed account and compliance services to FPSA and Fortnum Private Wealth.

Mr Taylor said that the addition of FPSA to the Fortnum family gave the group greater scale and bargaining power to negotiate more competitive rates and better service standard agreements on behalf of advisers and their clients.

“At Fortnum, we have a long-term view. We’re passionately independently-owned and we want to go on a long journey with our advisers which is why growth and scale is crucial,” he said.

“We have the resources and tools to help practices become more efficient and productive. Technology will play an increasingly important role and we’re committed to being an innovative, forward thinking licensee.”

FPSA national operations manager Lisa Faferko has moved from netwealth to Fortnum while former IA Financial Services operations manager Sandy Holland has joined Fortnum as client service manager, adviser operations & support.

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Mr Taylor will continue to report to Fortnum Financial Group executive chairman and co-founder Ray Miles, who will step back from the day-to-day running of Fortnum Financial Advisers to focus on leading the whole group which also includes research and asset consultancy Innova Asset Management and technology arm e-Clipse Online.

“Joel is extremely talented and hardworking and he gets the Fortnum culture. He has a strong rapport with the advisers, and it made sense for us to have a dedicated managing director for each of Fortnum’s three core businesses,” Mr Miles said.

“I’m fully committed to Fortnum Financial Group and Joel’s appointment releases me to focus on the group as a whole.”

Fortnum Financial Advisers has also appointed former Shadforth Financial Group regional practice manager and head of client relationship manager Elva Pica to the new position of advice implementation manager. Ms Pica will relocate to Sydney from Melbourne.

Former Commonwealth Bank operations analyst, Kristina Coffey has been appointed licensee relationship manager while experienced consultant, Jonathan Burke has joined as technical advice specialist.

In September, Fortnum Financial Advisers will also welcome managing director of Henry Financial Group Phil Little to the team as business growth manager. He will work closely with Mr Taylor to help practices improve their productivity and profitability as well as recruit new advisers.

“We are focused on partnering with advisers to help them deliver great advice to clients and continue growing their businesses,” Mr Taylor said.

“The Fortnum model is one where the interests of advisers and the licensee are fully aligned. It’s in everyone’s best interests for clients to receive quality service and advice that leads to improved outcomes. We also want to make sure that our advisers are at the forefront of the market in terms of professionalism and advice.”

Mr Taylor described the group’s expanded practice management team, which also included business coach Scott Charlton, as one of the “largest, strongest and most experienced teams in the country”.

“Many of the practices we attract are large and growing businesses with significant top line revenue and our goal is to help them achieve 15 per cent growth year on year by providing practice management services and training so they’re resourced and empowered to deliver of great advice,” he said.

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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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