Tough market conditions and unchanging low client confidence had not deterred SFG Australia from powering ahead with its initiatives for the year, managing director Tony Fenning said yesterday while revealing a sound financial result for the first half of 2012.
SFG, formerly Snowball Group, reported net operating revenue of $57.8 million for the six months to 31 December 2011, up 2 per cent on the pro forma prior corresponding period (pcp), according to its results announcement.
The company's merger with Shadforth Financial Group Holdings has tracked well, while synergies have been upgraded.
The first half of fiscal 2012 delivered $1.9 million in cost savings and synergies.
Total expected annualised savings and synergies were upgraded by $3.7 million a year to $10.5 million by the 2013 financial year, following the successful renegotiation of the group's portfolio administration supply contracts.
Funds under management reached $4 billion, up 6 per cent, but funds under administration and funds under advice decreased by 7 per cent to $9.2 billion and 9 per cent to $10.8 billion respectively on the pcp.
Fenning said SFG was preparing itself for an eventual market improvement, but remained optimistic about further acquisitions sometime in the second half of the year.
"We're still interested in transformational deals while activity around the smaller opportunities continues," he said.
"We do filter them pretty hard, but we'd like to be doing more [acquisitions] and there will probably be more on the market as the Future of Financial Advice hits. There will be a continuing effort on our part and we're working away."
SFG also said it would deploy new enhanced client value propositions across the entire business. Further details of the initative's launch will be released shortly.
Each business would take on a unique value proposition as it was not one-size-fits-all, Fenning said.
"We're refreshing the advice offers in terms of content as well as some of the options around scaled or partial advice," he said.
"It will be up-to-date, contemporary, fee-for-service and high-quality financial advice support plus the products and services as well."
He said the platform proposition would be offered across the main advice business, Western Pacific, and to third parties, therefore a redesign was required.
"We're working with Westpac and BT Financial Group on one side and Colonial First State on the other to upgrade the platform offers. That's a significant piece of working going on in the background," he said.
SFG will also focus on leveraging its brand strength across all units progressively to clients later in the year.
Fenning said the Shadforth Financial Group brand would be prioritised first, with material to be released in the last quarter of 2012.
SFG's finHQ platform service, which combines its multiple platforms offerings for clients, was also a significant project for the group, however, work in the area was only just beginning, he said.
