A new website has launched for finance professionals, including mortgage brokers, that are looking to buy or sell client or trail books.
Buy My Clients is a new website that aims to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for planners, accountants, brokers and other finance professionals looking to boost their books or sell theirs on.
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Co-founder Emanuel Millen said he came up with the idea for the website after becoming frustrated at the “fragmented market” when looking to buy a client book to become a financial planner.
He added that the traditional method of buying a book (i.e. relying on a connection in the industry) can be a costly process, as some connectors charge around 8 per cent of the value of the book.
As such, he and a colleague from the IT industry, Michal Wawruszak, and financial planner Mathew Walters, decided to “create something like SEEK for people buying or selling financial client lists”.
The website incorporates a listing section for those looking to sell their client book as well as a search function for those looking to buy client books or parcels of fees.
It also enables users to create alerts for their specified search criteria or likely matches.
Buy My Clients aims to help buyers to “see what is on offer and make more informed business decisions” while sellers benefit from “greater exposure to their offering”.
Mr Millen said that while the site may disrupt some existing business models, he believes both buyers and sellers stand to benefit.
He commented: “The financial planning industry, in particular, has been going through a lot of changes. The average age of advisers is around 55 to 60 and many are looking to exit the industry so the buying and selling of client books is likely to increase significantly over the next few years.”