Partnership launches as ‘alternative to self-licensing’

NSW financial advice firms Common Cents and EQ Financial have teamed up to launch Adviser Equity, a new style of licensee that will see authorised representatives become equity partners under a limited liability partnership. 

Adviser Equity – which will be launched this week alongside the ifa Business Strategy Day roadshow, for which the business has signed on as an event partner – will be more akin to a legal or accounting firm than a traditional dealer group, its co-founder Patrick McMenamin told ifa.

“The traditional bank-aligned dealer group model of authorising representatives is broken,” Mr McMenamin said. “Our structure allows partner firms to truly be partners and acts as an alternative to self-licensing.” 

Member firms will also gain access to an adviser fidelity trust to compensate any clients in the case of inappropriate advice and well-negotiated PI insurance premiums, Mr McMenamin said.

With the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry placing a spotlight on large dealer groups, he said the Adviser Equity model allows advisers to have skin in the game without exposing them to the risks of holding an AFSL.