Advisers encouraged to fund Hayne commission fixes

In a statement, Adviser Ratings said the crowdfunding campaign will assist how the industry deals with new compliance and monitoring obligations and costs of distribution.

“The environment has never been more conducive for substantive reform. Our business is well positioned to help elevate this industry towards becoming a profession that the community trusts and respects, while at the same time reducing costs where Hayne and other regulations have increased costs or removed revenue streams,” said Adviser Ratings founder and managing director Angus Woods.

“The launch of our crowdfund campaign will give every adviser in Australia an opportunity to participate in not only the ongoing success of Adviser Ratings, but to benefit the industry in general.

“The crowdfunding opportunity allows those that use us and benefit from our products to invest in us, making them a closer part of the family. Pleasingly, the demand for this raise has been strong with our minimum target of $350,000 achieved in the first four days.”

The capital raise, arranged through Birchal Financial Services, takes advantage of the government’s recently introduced Crowd Sourced Funding (CSF) regime that allows retail investors access to unlisted investment opportunities previously only available to high-net-worth or institutional investors.

“Adviser Ratings has set a stunning pace for its CSF offer, one of the fastest to hit its minimum target,” said Birchal co-founder Matt Vitale.

"Over 65 per cent of investors during the private phase have been financial advisers choosing to take action to drive positive change in the industry. We think this is a brilliant case study of how CSF can be used to marshal support around a core industry issue.”

Adviser Ratings said it will soon be launching an Adviser Marketplace to improve transparency and counterparty risk management between advisers and wealth sector vendors.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].