Paragem is conducting a scoping exercise to gauge whether it can attract accounting practices that want to operate under a non-aligned model.
If successful, managing director Ian Knox is eyeing the space occupied by Countplus before Commonwealth Bank became its biggest shareholder.
“We’ve commenced meeting with medium-sized accounting practices,” Knox told InvestorDaily.
About three weeks ago, Paragem announced the sale of its dealer services business to financial products and services provider netwealth for an undisclosed sum.
Knox said the sale had freed up managerial effort and focus for the wholesale Australian financial services licence (AFSL) side of the business.
“Our expectation is to provide a licence exclusively for accountants,” he said.
Knox cited two catalysts for the move: the uncertainty spurred by the government’s Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms and Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) $373 million acquisition of independent dealer group Count.
“We’re recognising that the consolidation is causing angst and, as many entire dealerships are acquired, some of the better practices don’t want to be part of the acquisition, they often want to remain in the marketplace as independent advisers,” he said.
“We want to continue to promote our brand position, which is enabling advice without conflict, and the AFSL represents that. It has no conflicts. It provides scale and rebates all scale benefits back to planners or to their clients.”
In buying Count, CBA also gets just under 40 per cent of Countplus, which groups 17 accounting firms, a financial planning practice and an advice dealer group.
“The second stage is, in viewing the sale of Count and also in acknowledgement of where FOFA is taking the licensing regime of accountants generally, we’re scoping out an entrance to that sector with a view to providing licensing at AFSL level to accountants,” Knox said.
“That will be a licence that only accountants can sit underneath. That is the intention we have and we hope to be able to launch that function in the early part of 2012.”
