At Fortnum, we talk about agility and accessibility a lot. It’s because we truly believe this is what sets us apart from other Australian Financial Services licensees. We are very mindful that changing to and onboarding with a new licensee can be a daunting and disruptive time for financial planning practices, so when practices join us, they tend to notice these differences right away.
For us, agility is about acting on matters quickly, while accessibility means contact with the right individual for the advice and support needed, every time. This is particularly important when it comes to licensing onboarding and operations ongoing.
As Head of Operations, I’m a generalist able to provide insight and knowledge across the full spectrum of our licensee expertise. New (as well as existing) financial advisers and their management teams can talk to me directly about any issue they’re facing in their practice. If I can’t help, I’ll know who can and I organise an introduction to that decision maker or specialist support.
Onboarding with Fortnum
From the moment we receive an application to join Fortnum’s licence, my team and I prioritise guiding new financial planning practices through the entire onboarding process. Together with Fortnum’s transition team, we work closely with prospective practices to assist them with the ins and outs of the application and onboarding process.
We understand that some practices may have reservations about transitioning to a new licensee or be concerned about the potential disruption to their business, which is a valid concern. Here at Fortnum, because of our robust systems, quality staff and our passion to get things done – practices are often surprised at how painless it can be.
New practices are supported throughout the entire onboarding process and are provided with regular updates via weekly onboarding meetings to iron out any issues or questions they may have.
And, our support for new practices doesn’t end there.
Meetings continue once the transition to Fortnum’s AFSL is complete to ensure you’ve settled into your new licensee environment, and our operations team continues to act as a point of contact to provide immediate support, information and access to resources that may be required.
Importantly, we make sure client and revenue transitions occur as quickly and seamlessly as possible. We understand the importance of cashflow in a small business and want to make sure any impact to this is minimal. Processing and tracking revenue weekly helps us keep on top of this.
Licensing done differently
Our agility and ability to get things done quickly regularly features as an important and much-appreciated benefit, according to feedback from our practices. Our agility is, of course, directly linked to our commitment to ensuring our decision makers are accessible.
Both these qualities are in abundance throughout the onboarding process, and continue thereafter along with the opportunity to join Fortnum’s famous collegiate community.
Almost immediately following onboarding, new practices are encouraged to interact with other Fortnum financial planning practices for the purpose of peer learning. This creates opportunities to share ideas with other like-minded and highly successful financial advisers and practice managers.
These opportunities are facilitated by our Culture, Community & Development and Practice Engagement & Growth business leaders, who collectively with our entire leadership team, aim to help all Fortnum practices create better financial planning businesses with better client outcomes.
Next steps…
For financial planning practice managers considering changing licensees, even if you’re not ready yet, here are three steps you can explore now:
- Check your current AFSL practice agreement to understand the termination period with your current licensee – this will help with planning.
- Understand your obligations as stipulated by your current licensee.
- Ensure you have detailed information together regarding the business and your advisers. Our application and due diligence process is very thorough, and you’ll be asked to provide us with a broad range of information about the practice.
It’s important to remember that determining an appropriate start date for your Fortnum licence is part of the onboarding process, hence there is no need to resign from your current licence before beginning your onboarding process with us.
Once your application is approved, the ball starts rolling and you can resign from your current licensee and your start date with Fortnum will be locked in. The onboarding journey begins.
For a confidential discussion about business and licensing services or joining Fortnum, please contact Rob Skinner, Head of Practice Engagement & Growth or Neil Younger, CEO and Managing Director on 02 9904 2792.
At Fortnum, we are known for our caring, energetic approach, adviser-aligned licensee ownership and a highly collaborative community of financial planning practices. We provide freedom within a proven framework which has a robust approach to risk and governance that creates opportunity for financial planners to build their ideal financial planning business.
