The financial planning firm became self-licensed earlier this year after working under Synchron since October 2006, a spokesperson confirmed. The new licence is known as We Are Gen Y – a reference to the firm’s strict focus on Generation Y clients.
Speaking to ifa, Synchron director and compliance manager John Prossor confirmed it was Wealth Enhancer’s choice to leave the licensee.
“They certainly left to establish their own licence and I think it’s going very well for them,” he said.
Wealth Enhancers’ chief experience officer Sarah Riegelhuth was the daughter of Synchron co-founder, Paul Riegelhuth.
The move to cap clients is an effort to retain the group’s quality of Generation Y “tall poppies”, Wealth Enhancers announced yesterday.
The membership-based practice is now application-only, with requests for service processed through its new website, wealthenhancers.community.
“Our members join us because they want to be the best version of themselves that they can be. They want to push themselves and they want to be kept accountable, but most importantly, they value their fellow members. It’s critical that we keep the quality within our community as we grow,” Ms Riegelhuth said.
“Our team also put their hearts and souls into the members, and working with people who don’t get it, don’t value, or simply don’t want to put in the hard work just isn’t worth it for them. It’s crushing for them to experience someone giving up on themselves as it’s just not in our culture.”
According to the website, members enjoy regular coaching sessions and ongoing financial advice. In addition, they can attend Wealth Enhancers member-only events and “get around high-achieving Gen-Yers because we all know that success breeds success.”
Membership fees can range from $559 a month for individuals to $1,299 a month for couples, according to the website. When considering potential new members, the company said it looks for several traits, including a successful career, value of advice and engagement with the community.
“We are rallying against the tall poppy syndrome that runs rampant in Australia. We know that success breeds success and negativity is a real block to progress. Our members all identify as being tall poppies. It’s what we call each other,” said Wealth Enhancers chief executive, Finn Kelly.
All good Dave (thanks Bento) there are many different opinions on things, and I actually like hearing them all, even if I don’t agree with everything. Polite and intelligent debate is a great thing for everyone.
Apologies Melinda re #43 and #44
: )
Cheers Dave, all power to your transparent approach to fee for service. They need articles about you here!
To be fair, Melinda was quoting me on “newest and most exciting business model on the block”, and she is obviously an advocate for good outcomes of advice, our only difference in approach is the view on which fee models are best. The clients will decide in the long run.
Melinda, I love your passion for our industry, but save it for when it’s suitable. Calling this the “newest and most exciting business model on the block” is a big stretch, unless ‘new and exciting’ means no CFP’s, an extra layer of fees via membership and the same feeling of community and exclusiveness that many of us provide. Also, charging % based fees is more archaic than ‘new’.
They have decided to focus on a niche market (all good businesses should have a target market) and they are marketing direct to that market which is great and should work for them, but I do the same for my pre-retiree target market.
Good luck to them, love their enthusiasm and wish them success, but let’s not pretend anything they are doing is ground breaking as has been implied in the article and some comments.
Don’t these two consecutive sentances in the FSG of WE directly conflict with one another?
“you will generally be charged a percentage based portfolio management fee”
“fees are based on the complexity and time taken to provide you with initial and ongoing advice
and the complexity of portfolio management needs”
While I am a flat dollar fee for advice adviser and advocate, I really don’t care how others charge, to each their own I say, but c’mon… don’t tell me my fees are based on time and work and complexity involved and then slap me with a % fee that cannot relate to these things and can only relate to the amount of money I invest with you.
I agree Bento, a great marketing strategy but doesn’t seem to work in practice much different to 95% of other firms out there.
But, I’m sure the advice is still generally good and if it works for them and their clients, great, good luck to them all, I’m just saying I agree with Bento, nothing earth shatteringly new here…
Cheers Melinda! Been there, seen that. SLick advertising does nothing to shift perception when your fees live in the fine print. I was hoping to see a business that charged a straight up fee and got rid of the percentages/commissions but it appears not. Happy to be corrected WE!
the details of a remuneration model in the newest and most exciting business model on the block, is in the public interest you would think.[/quote]
http://wealthenhancers.communi…
http://wealthenhancers.communi…
There you go, they have a great website, and all the information is on there.
[quote name=”Melinda Houghton”]Sure, and I agree with you, I would love to know too. Have you tried giving them a call and asking them? I’m sure their clients know because they have engaged which is what we all want our clients to do, isn’t it?[/quote]
I wouldn’t want to waste their valuable time as I’m not buying. They’re within their rights not to disclose in their press releases of course. Keep it between them and their clients, sure. But to the public it looks like an exclusive club for Gen Y’s with membership fees, % investment fees and commissions on insurance.
I was assuming that this forum would be sufficient to answer such questions, and maybe the journalist could shed some light on it as well. With negative perceptions so prevalent in our industry, the details of a remuneration model in the newest and most exciting business model on the block, is in the public interest you would think.
@BENTO, half the articles on this page are nothing ground breaking and their have been a number of articles about firms moving dealer groups in the last few months. Its hardly WE fault you dont consider it ground breaking.
Me! 🙂 If someone is happy enough to use the media to announce something that is called “revolutionary” or a “game changer” or even “just different to traditional businesses” it does raise people’s curiosity. I’m really interested to know what it is they do differently to other advice firms. Maybe their clients care as well??[/quote]
Sure, and I agree with you, I would love to know too. Have you tried giving them a call and asking them? I’m sure their clients know because they have engaged which is what we all want our clients to do, isn’t it?
@Melinda “If their clients are happy and getting what they need, who cares how they charge, how much they charge or in what format?”
Me! 🙂 If someone is happy enough to use the media to announce something that is called “revolutionary” or a “game changer” or even “just different to traditional businesses” it does raise people’s curiosity. I’m really interested to know what it is they do differently to other advice firms. Maybe their clients care as well??
Sarah and Finn are well respected and help their clients make the most of their finances. This is what financial planning is about. If their clients are happy and getting what they need, who cares how they charge, how much they charge or in what format?
We need more of these stories of how practices are moving forward in the advice world with different models so that different becomes normal. They are not telling anyone else they have to follow their model, just letting us know it can be done and done well. Congratulations Sarah and Finn, keep up the good work!
After stumbling across this article I found myself needing to express my opinion.
After providing a referee for someone who now works at Wealth Enhancers I was intrigued by their unique business model which, from my perspective, provided a holistic approach to enable individuals achieve both financial and non financial goals.
I have now been a client for almost 12 months and couldn’t be happier. The “tall poppy” terminology resinates with me strongly and the services and community they provide and engage with is fantastic.
As a Chartered Accountant with a demanding career, I love knowing that Wealth Enhancers hold me accountable to both my long and short term goals.
It is by no means elitism, it is about finding the right people who understand the culture and the company’s vision. WE is a fantastic company, and the negative comments in here have a severe undertone of jealously.
Props WE team.
Our industry is constantly being told we need to change and improve to better service our clients. Whether that’s true or not is debatable but it’s great to see new business ideas flourishing in a profession that is dealing with shifting sands and uncertainty about what new regulation is coming next. If the business owners amongst us don’t try new things then our critics will likely “win” and we know this means our clients will lose.
Well done guys – will watch your progress with interest and enthusiasm!
Finn and Sarah, good luck with your new venture. Transitioning to your own licence is no picnic but very rewarding. Would love to know more about how your business model works.
It is interesting reading through all the comments on both sides of the debate.
I have been a member of WE for the last couple of years and love being involved in the work that the team do. I feel more than just a client, more like I am a part of the wider WE team & community.
I had never considered getting any form of financial advice, until meeting Sarah & Finn.
Keep up the awesome work team and getting those members like me who wouldn’t go to a more traditional firm.
Just like most industries, disruption is here and everyone needs to be looking & evolving into the future.
Everyone has a choice in life and those choices are your own. In moving to a world where clients are empowered, fees are transparent. Would you not say it’s less about the opinions of those peers surrounding the business and the fact that the business has clients that are happy and willing to pay?
The truth of the matter is that if someone sees value in something – be it a product or service and they are willing to pay the price asked. Is that not a measure of the success of the service/product being offered.
Christine, it seems that your model is to charge fee for service, plus percentage fees on investments and commissions on insurance. What is different about WE to many other businesses apart from the Gen Y approach?
Christine, they’re not annoyed, it’s just hard for some to understand the concept of a membership fee (i.e. fee for advice/service) that covers a holistic approach where advice doesn’t necessarily result in a product being placed. As high earning clients with great ambition, I imagine many will be interested in gearing, need trusts/companies, direct shares, buying their own home or next home, investment properties, estate planning, cash flow and budgeting advice, etc.
Many (not all, but at least 60-80% in my experience)in our industry still limit 90% of their advice to the products clients hold (super and insurance) and discuss this other stuff generally, but don’t formulate specific strategic actionable advice around it, nor realise that for some clients, especially high income earners, some of the non-product advice is not only most wanted, but also often most needed over and above which super fund they have or who their insurances is with.
I don’t know your model any better than “sceptic” does, but I choose to be optimistic and assume your advice will be holistic and needs based, while he has assumes it will be selling products. It’s that difference in mindset that sets businesses and clients apart.
And MERV, you’re are totally right, how much one earns is not a measure of their worth, but it IS a measure of how well they run their business, because all warm and fuzzy stuff aside, let’s be honest, 99.9% of us are in business for the primary reason (perhaps not sole reason, but still primary reason) of financial profit.
I am a Coach at WE. WE are proud of what we do and aren’t afraid to tell everyone about. At the end of the day we are helping people and how we choose to do it is up to us. We don’t care if we don’t have your support because all we care about is making a difference. All those people who have left negative comments, what is it that you’re really annoyed about?
The sceptic in me says that in return for your exclusive membershio you will be entitled to our in house products at a healthy premium. Sounds like a money making factory to me.
Gee it must be so hard for a Gen Y Tall Poppy to tolerate all those Short Weeds out there who for forty years have served their community helping those who needed it. Some of us were too busy helping clients and enjoying their “non exclusivity” to even notice we didn’t have a business plan or a succession plan and no articulated goals either other an inner driving force to provide excellent advice. Funny how we prospered without charging a joining fee. But then we taught people many things without charging fees. Such as buying property.Funny how if a Small Weed comments on Gen Y it’s “cutting them down,” but they can’t see themselves as narcissistic and boring. How much you earn is not a pointer to your worth and never will be. But Gen Y certainly do fit in one box!
Ten bucks says this new company is more profitable in the short term than most of the advisers on here are after a decade plus in the game. I know “its not all about that” but I’m just proud to see a FP practice with a clear and articulated mission, set of values, strategy, target client, etc.
Never ceases to amaze me how many small FP businesses are essentially just people who have bought themselves a job and make enough to get by while trying to do everything for everyone, with no written business or succession plan or articulated direction/goals, etc.
Each to their own, but ironic how some are trying to ‘cut them down’. Kinda rams their point home doesn’t it…
I’m a proud Gen Y Tall Poppy who made around $300k last year and if I wasn’t a planner myself then I’d be knocking on their door to be a part of it. There’s heaps of us out there and we want exclusive, we want community, we want to be part of something and most of all, we don’t want to sit on our hands. We want to do more and be more and have more in the years ahead and if that’s what they’re selling, there’s plenty who will line up to buy.
I’d wish them luck, but they and I know luck has nothing to do with it!
Who was it who said something about trees and nuts?
Can’t follow your logic there at all Merv.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Never would want anyone to deprive anyone of that civil liberty.
Your comments and your reactions to this article is perfectly valid. They are perfect. You do not engage with it. It’s why this strategy can work for Sarah and Finn.
Ok Matt – So on the basis of what you’re saying, no one should have an opinion unless they agree with the statement maker. Unless it’s you of course who disagree with others. I don’t “hate” anybody nor do I “cut people down.” However thank the stars one can still have an opinion – Think humour my Mattness – you may get it. Merv Gay
Two points to make here…
Firstly, nice work Finn and Sarah. Clear niche being targeted. Ideal client defined and they you are full steam ahead focussed on that – this without doubt is ‘an achievement that elevates them above or distinguish them from their peers’…coz most of us aren’t defining it this clearly.
Secondly, there are a few people below ‘defending’ Sarah and Finn who I need to stir the pot with.
They are marketing to tall poppies. Poppies get cut down because they are envied. Merv Gay is cutting them down because they are putting themselves up there as tall poppies.
Their marketing is working. This is proof of it working. This is the territory they will forever work within.
You get it? Telling people to stop cutting them down will diminish their success…in theory. Let the haters be haters – they need the haters to be haters.
Don’t get upset that people are tearing them down, be happy for Sarah and Finn because it will attract the people who will engage with their message.
Look at the positive, stop looking at the negative Steve, Elaine, Dylan…
John and I and the team at Synchron would like to publicly show our support and best wishes for Finn and Sarah and Wealth Enhancers. We are proud of their past association with Synchron and trust their different model will bring them the success they rightfully seek. Good luck guys.
How is your remuneration model different exactly?
To #15 Emma:
I think you should quickly familiarise yourself with the legal definition of defamation Emma before you foolishly tear down the very organisation that Sarah’s very well respected late father Paul helped to establish from scratch into the largest independently owned AFSL in Australia.
Sarah well and truly knows the dedication and commitment Paul had to the cause and she would have learnt much from her father to help her on her journey.
It would be better if you showed a little respect, rather than engaging in unfounded and potentially damaging commentary of an organisation.
Your inexperience is obvious.
So sick of the negative attitudes shown in the comments by some people who don’t even have the guts to put their full name in…that way they can hide.
To Finn and Sarah – keep fighting the good fight… you are innovative and those who break from the ‘flock’ are always shot down!!
as Tay Tay says “haters gonna hate”
We’re proud of the important role we play in our members’ lives. We support and coach them to achieve both personal and related financial goals. We have chosen the term ‘tall poppy’ because we identify with this and it speaks directly to our audience.
We encourage our members to be the best version of themselves that they can be, to focus on what is important to them and be free of external pressures. To live their lives by their values alone.
The tall poppy definition that we are referring to is below:
“The tall poppy syndrome is a pejorative term primarily used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other Anglosphere nations to describe a social phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are resented, attacked, cut down, or criticised because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers. This is similar to begrudgery, the resentment or envy of the success of a peer.”
This is how we have chosen to run our business in order to provide the best offering to our members. There are many different business models that work and we are certainly not saying that the way we run our company is any better than any other business model.
We really appreciate all of the positive comments being made here, by and large this is a good and supportive industry and we hope to always support other advisers in the way that you are supporting us. We care deeply about what we do, and are very optimistic about the future of our profession. Best wishes to all.
Looking at the comments below, an enterprising young couple shake up the FP tree a little, and all the ‘nuts’ fall out of it!
Good on them firstly for letting others know about it (and good on them if they received free publicity out of it), and yes they are innovators in a range of areas, so it is newsworthy – and all the whingers below saying otherwise, how many of you were asked to present at the Innovators forum in Sydney that Joe mentioned?
[quote name=”Dylan”]Why are people so nasty all the time? They are completely different to any wealth management firm I know and I like that. Who cares if they used the tall poppy thing wrong or right. So many jealous folk out here its terrible.[/quote]
Jealous, of???
I already have a well run successful business.
And how is it Completely different?
Do you mean they Don’t provide a good and valuable service to their clients that helps them through lifes journey to meet their needs and protect them from the slip ups along the way?
Or do you just mean, i don’t have much experience and have worked in one licensee and think that reflect on our whole industry.
This is nothing new, hardly news worthy and lets be honest,. It is 2 kids marketing to some other kids as being exclusive.
Maybe Dylan you’re mistaken with “nastiness and”jealousy.” Could it be humour? Lighten up man!
Why are people so nasty all the time? They are completely different to any wealth management firm I know and I like that. Who cares if they used the tall poppy thing wrong or right. So many jealous folk out here its terrible.
Selling under the guise of exclusivity- the oldest marketing ploy. Even Bernie Madoff used this technique for his Ponzi schemes.
I’d look up the meaning and context of tall poppy before using it in my marketing…
IFA can you please tell me how i can get some free publicity?
Or how this is Journalism or even important to the industry?
I have just changed dealer groups and would love a free pimping on your website so p[lease let us all know who we contact for our free plug?
Well done Sarah and Finn, it’s so good to see a firm pushing the advice industry in a new and exciting direction. Merv, why so disparaging?
All the best for your success.
Well done – heard Sarah talk recently at the Adviser Innovation forum in Sydney and she’s passionate about what she does, so sure it will go from strength to strength.
And it is always good to see people change things up and challenge our thinking as well, especially in business models – so Merv Gay I am not sure why you either feel threatened or have such a beef against someone simply trying something different and specific in their approach, marketing and focus…?
Hi Bigal – I doubt tall poppies “lead people towards lives of meaningful success.” – Tall poppies as they call themselves divide people – Tall poppies are a myth my friend – a better description is over sized egos. Stay a shrinking violet bigal – life will be kinder to you.
Membership fees, percentage fees, insurance commissions! Woohoo! Let the good times roll you tall poppies!
Good Luck Finn & Sarah, you guys have done a great job at empowering young people and helping them get good advice at the right time.
Good on ya guys, all the best for the future and I know you will do well as part of the “tall poppy” brigade. Rise up against all the negativity out there and as we used to say, kick arse! Seriously though, so many young folk need help and nurturing, life can be tough. Just look at the suicide rate, it is a national calamity and a disgrace in a country as lucky as ours. Life can be tough but is never that bad.
I am now more of a “shrinking violet” but I say all power to tall poppies to lead people towards lives of meaningful success.
Hee hee hee! Well what can one say about this? Certainly a new twist on paying for advice and commissions. All one needs is a huge ego, plenty of money, and a form filling in ability and bingo you’re there.What a lot of rot!