Sydney-based firm Cooper Barber made the move to Omniwealth because it is fully licensed and has an approved products list (APL) for direct investments that includes equities and direct residential property, according to principal Steve Cooper.
“In recent years, my clients have become more familiar with the investment options that are now available to them. As their adviser, it’s my responsibility to deliver the appropriate investment solutions so the client can achieve their goals,” he said.
Matthew Kidd, Omniwealth managing director, told ifa the dealer group has been attracting advisers who feel “claustrophobic” with larger dealer groups and don’t want to be product driven. However, he added Omniwealth is not interested in facilitating exit strategies.
Omniwealth has exceeded its expectations of reaching five in its network by June and plans to attract another 10 firms by December, with Kidd confident the dealer group will reach 15 relatively quickly.
Kidd said Omniwealth is looking for advisers who have “significant experience” and understand the value of direct investments, adding the dealer group strongly believes in fee for service and is getting a lot of interest because of the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms.
“We’ve been FOFA-ready for ages, we’ve seen the wave coming and we went to fee for service quite some time ago … Because of that, our advisers who join our dealer group get to off that, and we can [bring] them into the next era of financial advising,” he said.
