Intrinsic, part of Old Mutual Wealth, has been selected as the preferred network partner by Sesame Bankhall Group.
Earlier this month, Sesame Bankhall Group announced following its decision to no longer offer a network option for investment and pension ARs.
This came as a result of an internal review, carried out by John Cowan, executive chairman of Sesame Bankhall Group.
He told Financial Adviser at the time the closure of the wealth AR network was “a natural progression from the RDR changes” as the regulatory regime had put the traditional network models under pressure.
Any wealth ARs who wished to remain within a network or larger group were offered the choice of a smooth transition to another group, which has been confirmed today (24 April) as Intrinsic, which most industry bodies had speculated would be a natural fit with Sesame Bankhall Group’s wealth network.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Sesame investment and pension appointed representatives will be offered a smooth and cost effective route into Intrinsic which is already the largest network of advisers in the UK.
Advisers can still choose to be directly authorised with the FCA with the support of Bankhall, reducing their permissions to mortgage and protection only, or moving to Intrinsic, with a preferential transfer arrangement agreed.
In the terms of the arrangement, Intrinsic will invite all Sesame investment and pension appointed representatives to a series of nationwide roadshows in early May where they can learn more about the business, its culture, its proposition and the transitional arrangements between Sesame and Intrinsic.
| These arrangements include: |
No exit fees charged by Sesame No freeze on commission and no interruption to income whilst client files Assistance with client transfers (novation) out of Sesame and into No double charging of FCA fees FSCS interim levy will be covered by Sesame |
Intrinsic will accept applications up to 31st July 2015 when the Sesame network closes for investment and pension advisers. Advisers will be vetted and appointed through Intrinsic’s usual recruitment process and can join Intrinsic Financial Planning or Positive Solutions depending on how they want to run their business.
According to the terms, Intrinsic will scale up its staff numbers depending on how many advisers choose to transfer from Sesame to ensure it can offer all advisers within the network a high level of support are transferred to Intrinsic, including new business in pipeline.
Richard Freeman, chief executive of Intrinsic, said: “Our focus is on offering financial advisers a secure and stable structure in which to operate.
“All Networks are not the same. We run a hugely successful business that can reduce risk, deliver genuine customer value, and support advisers to grow their business and deliver outstanding service for their clients. We are looking forward to talking to the Sesame ARs and demonstrating the strength of our offer in May.”
