FPSA, Fortnum deal sees practice numbers decline

ifa reported last week that formerly Netwealth-owned FPSA had successfully merged its operations with Fortnum, and was accepting applications from the external market. 

However, according to ASIC records, only six practices out of the 19 formerly licensed by the old FPSA have crossed over to the new licensee offer.

The records show the other 13 firms joined a range of non-aligned dealer groups, including Integrity Financial Planners, Infocus Securities, Advice Evolution, NextPlan Financial and MyPlanner.

Speaking to ifa, Mr Taylor said while he gave those advisers time to decide on their next moves, it was never Fortnum's intention to retain all of them.

"We never contemplated and nor did we want all of those FPSA advisers," said Mr Taylor, who is managing director of both FPSA and Fortnum. 

"There were definitely some FPSA advisers out of the original cluster that did not fit the Fortnum model for a whole bunch of reasons. We certainly got the ones we wanted."

The new FPSA entity is jointly owned by Fortnum and FPSA principal practices, with Netwealth continuing to provide a range of platform, managed accounts and compliance services. It operates under Fortnum's AFSL.

Mr Taylor said last week the new FPSA offer was important for the group because he understood "not all practices suited the Fortnum model".

That was one of the reasons why Accrue Financial Group founder Terry Barron, who was licensed under FPSA until October, said he did not look to join the new arrangement.

"I thought Fortnum looked like a pretty good group but I didn't need what they do. Advice Evolution was a better fit for us," Mr Barron told ifa. 

"I'd still be with FPSA if they hadn't merged. But half a dozen of the advisers in Advice Evolution I've known for years. It was like going home."