Boutique licensee relaunches as Intelligent Planning

Boutique Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensee Dirigere Advisory has relaunched as Intelligent Planning and will offer financial licensing offering through the Dirigere licence.

Intelligent Planning will be led by its founding members, with Phil Osborne taking the role of managing director, while former Rothschild UK financial adviser Damian Grimes will serve as chief investment officer, and former Synchron state manager and financial adviser Matthew Wallis will join as advice distribution manager.

The move to relaunch as Intelligent Planning came after identifying what Mr Osborne called a gap in the market.

“We saw a widening gap in the financial planning landscape between what today’s professional financial adviser community really wants from a licensee and what the market currently delivers. Intelligent Planning is designed to help fill that gap,” he said.

“Listening to our financial advice practices informed the new Intelligent Planning offer and gave us the confidence to move forward with it.

“Key elements include a flat licence pricing model, the ability for advisers to speak directly with an internal industry expert on a peer-to-peer basis and a culture of community.”

The AFSL is putting an ownership stake on the table for some of the initial advisers that join the business.

Intelligent Planning said that along with the firm’s founders having equal shares in the business, it is also offering a further, equivalent share to be divided among the first wave of founding advisers.

“We are offering our first advisers a degree of ownership in Intelligent Planning and therefore guaranteeing we hear their voices about how we operate,” Mr Osborne said.

The practices that are currently onboard include Beta Advice, which is Intelligent Planning advice distribution manager Matthew Wallis’ Sydney-based firm, as well as Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) board member Katherine Hayes’ Canberra-based firm Hayes & Co, and NOR Financial, which primarily services professionals in the medical field, owned by Shaun Clements.

“What we have in the excellent practices we have on board, and what we are continuing to look for is good quality, forward-thinking businesses which have room to grow,” Mr Osborne said.

Intelligent Planning will also be part of Intelligent Money Partnership, an integrated financial services offering that is currently in development.