Genesys Wealth Advisers is in the process of rebuilding its adviser network, with the group close to signing a number of new member firms.
“Some are coming from other dealer groups that are institutionally owned, others are coming from littler dealer groups,” Genesys Wealth Advisers executive director Andrew Creaser said.
The rebuilding process comes after a tough nine months for the Challenger-owned dealer group.
Genesys suffered a very public dissension in its ranks when a number of key adviser and member groups quit the dealer after their shares in Challenger were released from escrow on August 22.
“Yes, we have lost some firms and yes, there has been some anxiety in the ranks as we’ve got through this transition, but the proposition as it stands today is still attracting new firms to the group and is still attractive to advisers looking to hook up with our existing firms,” Creaser said.
In addition to building Genesys’ numbers, the focus was also on existing member firms, Creaser said.
The shift in focus has led the group to develop a new web-based practice financial management system called EIS.
Creaser said the system was devised to help the group’s member firms drive the financial aspects of their business.
“We can use this system to highlight which activities advisers perform add value and which don’t, so we can actually get them to focus on the things that are creating value in their practice,” he said.
“We actually think it will change the way planners position their business for sale and for succession going forward. And we think we’ve got the potential to break the nexus of businesses being valued on the current revenue versus a multiple of EBIT [earnings before interest and tax].”
The system was also being used to benchmark firms against their industry peer groups, he said.
“The benchmarking is being processed, so probably by the end of November we’ll have a good sample of what’s going on in the businesses,” he said.
“Ultimately our EIS will become a dashboard for us to look at how the whole business is going.”
The system was created in partnership with Genesys and Brisbane technology business EIS1.
In 2004, about 150 financial planners aligned to former dealer group Associated Planners (AP) were given shares in Challenger as part of its takeover of AP. The shares were placed in escrow for almost three years.
