BankWest plans to look offshore for financial advisers to service its new financial planning division – and the United Kingdom is its first stop.
The retail banking arm of HBOS Australia announced late last week it will launch the new division, BankWest Financial Planning, in March next year.
“We’ve got more than 1000 planners over in the UK. There have been a few colleagues who have expressed an interest to come and work in Australia. I’m going over there in January to do some interviews,” BankWest head of retail sales Mark Reid said.
BankWest is looking to add 100 financial planners to the new division in the next three years. The decision to look offshore stems from an existing UK model, Reid said.
“What we are going to be creating is an academy, which we can make sure these colleagues can get the sufficient training and support,” he said.
“The academy is really going to be about giving colleagues who may not have ever undertaken any financial planning a safe environment where they can learn, they can make mistakes and really educate themselves about what it takes to be a good financial planner.”
BankWest plans to roll out its academy in the first half of next year.
Reid said succession planning is another way the group intends to increase its adviser numbers.
“We’ve been recruiting people on the east coast and we want to make sure they have a career path with us, and make sure they feel valued throughout that career path,” he said.
“It’s across HBOS Australia, we’re going to be looking at colleagues in the stores now, both in WA and on the east coast who express an interest. Obviously subject to being the right colleagues and fitting our culture, they’ll certainly get the opportunity.”
BankWest Financial Planning was devised to offer cost effective financial advice to low income consumers, although Reid could not elaborate further.
“We’ve not worked out that detail yet. It’s just too early to say. Though you can be rest assured that it will be highly competitive,” he said.
Under the new division, Reid will be responsible for the new entity’s distribution channels, with BankWest on the look out for five state managers.
