Former Suncorp firm finds non-aligned home

Griffin Financial Services specialises in advising wealth accumulators and UK expats. Principal Scott Dawkins and senior adviser Matt Bradley will both be moving over.

Fortnum managing director Joel Taylor said: "Scott and Matt are a great cultural fit for Fortnum. They're passionate about providing quality, professional advice that will make a real difference in their clients' lives, and we're extremely excited to have them on board," he said.

"Fortnum has a great mix of highly experienced mature advisers and younger advisers like Scott and Matt who represent the next generation of professionals rising up in the industry. At Fortnum, we encourage and foster collaboration and the sharing of ideas and experiences across our network which now also includes our new subsidiary, Financial Planning Services Australia."

Mr Dawkins described Fortnum as the "standout" licensee, after a "very disruptive" period following Guardian's decision late last year to exit financial planning.

"It was clear that we needed to join a profitable, independently-owned licensee with a broad approved product list and a firm commitment to advice for the long term," he said.

"The values that Fortnum upholds and the autonomy it gives advisers, within the parameters of a robust professional advice framework, really resonated with me. Fortnum is big enough to provide the services and support we need but small enough to be nimble, dynamic and adapt to change."

Mr Taylor added that an important part of Fortnum's growth strategy was to recruit more like-minded professional young advisers as well as mature advisers with established practices.

In November 2015, Suncorp announced that it was "simplifying" distribution and would be walking away from the management of its Suncorp Financial Planning and Guardian Advice dealer groups.