Former Professional Investment Services (PIS) founder Robbie Bennetts is in the process of setting up a business to consult and provide new business modelling to financial advisory groups.
Bennetts told InvestorDaily that his new business venture will continue his focus on Australia’s financial planning industry, with a particular interest in helping advice firms adapt to the federal government’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms.
“I’ve had approaches from a number of financial planning groups about either becoming involved with them or how I would see my involvement with them. I’m mentally down to three of four groups”, he said.
“I think I’ve worked on some very new concepts to be able to handle the changes to FOFA and grow the businesses drastically.”
Bennetts described the four groups as “two very big groups” and “two boutiques”.
Bennetts said in his view, the industry has been “a bit stagnant” over the last couple of years and too focused on the reform changes with no thought given to how to grow the industry, or how advisers can change their business.
“I think I’ve worked out a good in-between way of doing it which will allow advisers to leverage up their businesses more and make more money,” he said.
Bennetts said he is working with an offshore business on modelling and hopes to have something ready in January.
He hopes his new business venture will help stem the number of advisers seeking to exit the industry due to the reforms.
In October, Bennetts was made redundant from his consulting role with PIS.
When asked whether there was any truth to rumours he was starting his own advice group, or planned to accept another chief executive position, Bennetts said it was not his plan.
“I don’t intend to start up another group. I think more than anything I will pick someone to piggyback with,” he said.
“I think that the industry needs somebody to guide it forward and help it grow again.”
While not wishing to be critical of Australia’s advice associations’ abilities to strengthen the advice industry, Bennett said not enough work has been done.
“The industry has been working very hard to satisfy FOFA and it’s still a bit of an unknown. After the GFC there has been a lot of failed products and some of the advice [was] questionable so there has been a lot for the industry to deal with,” he said.
“However, I do believe that we’ve had our eye off the ball a little bit with the advisers. If you want to have any growth in the independent space we’ve got to show advisers how to be successful.”
