Majority of ex-Guardian advisers go non-aligned

ifa reported in November 2015 that Suncorp had begun a six-month transition out of its self-employed, aligned adviser networks, Guardian Advice and Suncorp Financial Planning, in order to “simplify its distribution model”.

Last week, a Suncorp spokesperson confirmed to ifa that the transition has ended.

“We supported all advisers during the six-month transition period and this is now complete,” the spokesperson said.

“All advisers have now moved on to new opportunities”

Those new opportunities include a range of well-known dealer groups, with more than half of them in the non-aligned space, according to ASIC data.

Out of 87 former Guardian advisers, who left the dealer group following the November announcement, 77 moved on to non-aligned licensees such as Fortnum Financial Advisers, GPS Wealth, Synchron, MyPlanner and Infocus Wealth Management.

About 34 of those joined Centrepoint Alliance while eight were picked up by Affinia.

As for the other 10 advisers, at least one joined CBA’s Financial Wisdom licence. Westpac’s Securitor picked up five and its Magnitude dealer group took in two. The remaining two joined IOOF’s Shadforth Financial Group and Consultum licensees.

Speaking to ifa, Centrepoint Alliance managing director John de Zwart said the former Guardian advisers were attracted to the dealer group's range of services.

"The feedback from ex-Guardian firms is they were initially attracted by the breadth and quality of our capabilities, however as they undertook due diligence, they were impressed by the people, professionalism and the strong community feel," he said. 

"The feedback since joining has continued to be overwhelmingly positive and the firms are all leveraging the resources and the adviser community to springboard their growth."