Renato Mota
Viewpoint with John Billington

By Renato Mota

Down to business in 2010

As we reach the end of the first quarter of 2010, and with the holiday period well and truly behind us, most advisers I speak to are looking forward to 2010 with a view to building the core elements of their businesses and capitalise on the next cyclical upturn. At IOOF we are no different.

Having been in the role of General Manager, Distribution for a month now, we too are looking to focus our business on its core elements and reinforce our position as a key partner to independent advisers and dealer groups.

While the past two years have been traumatic, knowing that IOOF has survived and prospered during far more difficult periods over the past 160 years, provides me with confidence in our ability to grow our business and in turn help advisers grow theirs in the future.

The events of the past two years have raised many questions about every component of the wealth management value chain and IOOF is determined to learn from this experience to further strengthen our value proposition going forward. As we enter 2010, our strategy is becoming clearer and will revolve around the following key principles:

  • Independent financial advice will increase in prominence and importance in the Australian landscape. This is a core market for IOOF.
  • The Australian superannuation (including retirement income streams) will increase in size and relevance as a retirement funding vehicle
  • To succeed in the independent financial advisory space, groups like IOOF need to position themselves as business partners rather than product providers.

To assist in our quest of becoming true business partners, over the coming months you may be asked to participate in some IOOF feedback forums. Any time and energy you can spare to assist us, is sincerely appreciated and will be invaluable as we look to improve our relevance to the independent advisory market.

You may have noticed IOOF released to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) its half year results to 31 December 2009. This record result reinforced the strength of the IOOF Group that underpins our ability to develop sustainable long term relationships. This result would not have been possible without the support and loyalty of our advisory partners and I would like to acknowledge their contribution to this result, so thank you.

As always, we love to hear from you so please feel free to send through your feedback or comments to myself or Alex Tullio.

Kind regards,

Renato Mota
General Manager, Distribution