Bouris to IFAs: Time to disrupt bank and insto dominance
By WP | 6/11/2012 8:00:00 AM | 7 comments
The Yellow Brick Road executive chairman has told independent financial advisers (IFAs) that now is the time to club together and challenge the big boys.
Speaking at the Association of Independently Owned Financial Planners (AIOFP) annual conference dinner, Bouris told the audience that today’s market offers plenty of opportunities to IFAs.
“All you guys are independent, you are well respected. People have tried to seduce you to go and join the institutionally owned companies but you resisted, he said”
Using his experience in partnering with ‘disrupter’ Kerry Packer to launch Wizard home loans’ challenge on the Big Four banks’ in the 90s, Bouris urged the independent financial planning sector to become join together and present a united front to their banking and institutional competitors.
“You too can be disrupters,” he said, adding that factors were emerging that were likely to benefit the independents.
“There is excess liquidity out there and it needs to be put somewhere because if a bank is taking deposits and it can’t match it with assets it has problems,” he said, noting that banks have to find somebody to distribute the assets.
“That excess liquidity is ending up on the banks’ balance sheet and because of the government guarantee on deposits they now have problems.”
He went on to claim that 70% of all Australian mortgage holders were ahead of their repayment schedules – and that they were paying their loans off faster than the banks were getting hold of their cash.
“You might ask how do I fit into this? How do I take advantage of these things?” he said.
“I believe that if you have a healthy client base, you are independent and make all the right moves over the next three or four years you will have strong and printable businesses because Australians want financial advice and they want more advice than they have had in the past”.
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Scott on 06 Nov 2012 09:42 AM
Mark Bouris is a great entrepanuer and promoter but I just find it hard to accept the anti institution rhetoric from him. he made a fortune selling Wizard to GE, and good luck to him, I just wonder if he has the same end game in mnd for YBR
Alex Warren on 06 Nov 2012 10:13 AM
seems to be a pretty good businessman. But for me i have to know i am doing the right thing by clients. If you look at the quality of the people heading up his ybr franchises they are mostly nothing but salesman and they wouldnt know good advice if it hit them in the face. We need good people in the industry providing good quality advice, and that means only adding advisors that have appropriate skill and experience. And i dont mean meeting the minimum ASIC requirements (monkeys can pass those exams) To take on the banks let them have the monkeys the independants need good quality financial advisors who are truly working in the clients best interest not just their bottom line.
Ben on 06 Nov 2012 10:17 AM
Mark Bouris are you serious? Independant? Nice use of words there. Independantly owned maybe but independant? So none of these businesses are aligned with the likes of Count, Godfrey Pembroke (MLC) etc? I would suggest you need to be very careful with the word 'Independant', as it is my understanding that you cannot call yourself this if you are aligned with another licencee. And you sold out to the big boys with Wizard so I think it may be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. How about trying to promote the industry as a whole rather than just trying to feather your own nest....again.
Paul on 06 Nov 2012 10:19 AM
Sorry Mark, but practices that derive revenue from inhouse products are not independent. They are just smaller versions of AMP, MLC etc.
Philippa Sheehan on 06 Nov 2012 04:53 PM
I certainly do not want to criticize Licensees that are trying to do the right thing. Unfortunately it was FoFA that was going to clean out most of the conflicts like Volume Bonuses and Kickbacks. Independent you may define yourself, but how many of these benefits are you receiving? Unfortunately FoFA has grandfathered these payments which means once again things are not going to be cleaned up. My Adviser does not receive such remuneration which means Advisers (as do clients) have to pay for the service they receive. Until this is done throughout the industry, we are never going to see true "independent" Advisers.
Peter Johnston - AIOFP on 09 Nov 2012 02:36 PM
GET REAL ABOUT THE REALITIES OF THE MARKET. ALL INSTITUTIONS AND ACCOUNTANTS CROSS SUBSIDISE ADVICE WITH ADMINISTRATION MARGIN AND THE TRUE INDEPENDENT IS MEANT TO STRUGGLE ALONG TRYING TO SURVIVE ON HOURLY BASED RATES WHEN THE PUBLIC DONT AND WONT PAY.