Dealer group cuts fees, staff salaries in COVID response

In a statement released to the market on Tuesday, Centrepoint Alliance said it had “rapidly mobilised” support to assist its advisers during the crisis.

“The company announced fee relief to its advisers on 25 March by waiving a planned fee increase, reducing fees for larger firms and capping fees for two years,” Centrepoint Alliance said.

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“In the meantime, Centrepoint has launched a series of time-critical updates for its advisers to help them support their clients and manage their businesses in the rapidly changing environment.”

The company added that it had also reduced costs through temporarily cutting executive team salaries and encouraging staff to take leave.

“The board and executive team have volunteered a temporary 20 per cent reduction in pay and non-executive staff have been invited to salary sacrifice six weeks’ leave over six months,” Centrepoint said.

“The salary sacrificed leave program helps to reduce Centrepoint’s salary costs and provides staff additional flexibility to assist while working remotely and caring for family.”

Centrepoint Alliance chief executive Angus Benbow said the group had entered the crisis in a strong financial position, and was therefore able to share the benefits of its scale by offering reduced fees to support advisers.

“Our business is in a robust position and our focus is on ensuring the business is sustainable through the crisis,” Mr Benbow said.

“Centrepoint Alliance has been systematically moving from lower quality rebates to recurring fee-based revenue since August 2018, placing our revenue mix in a less vulnerable position due to the market downturn.”