ANZ Wealth has received a number of loan requests from planning groups within its network, less than two weeks after the rollout of its new practice funding program.
The wealth manager released the ANZ Practice Funding Facility to its aligned advisers on 1 August.
An ANZ Wealth spokesperson could not comment on the exact number of groups seeking funding, however, he stated the company had received “a lot of interest”.
He was also not in a position to disclose the amount of funding ANZ intended to allocate to the program.
ANZ Wealth-owned dealer group Financial Services Partner has more than 10 applications under consideration for loans the group’s chief executive Geoff Rimmer said.
“It’s probably between 12 to 15 applications,” Rimmer said.
“I’ve been really pleasantly surprised at the rapid take-up. Obviously they haven’t all been funded yet, but the activity has been very strong.”
While Rimmer was also not in a position to reveal the exact details of the funding offer, he said: “The terms are quite attractive given the context of the market because it’s quite hard to borrow money in small business now.”
He said while most “good dealer groups” have tried to help their advisers with their succession funding to expand or getting themselves ready for exit, the arrival of the global financial crisis (GFC) stifled aid.
ANZ Wealth said the funding program will be available to advisers to help them grow their business through acquisition, purchase client books from a retiring financial planner and refinance existing business loans through ANZ in a reform environment.
ANZ Wealth has recruited 20 accredited business managers to work through loan applications.
ANZ general manager advice and distribution Paul Barrett said: “Our advisers need the flexibility to adapt to the new business models required to succeed in a fee-for-service environment.”
