Case Studies
Issue No. 32 - December/January
Hunting right head brings AAA results
If ever there was a lesson in the power of one, this is it.
Financial advisory firm AAA Financial Group has achieved spectacular growth in a matter of 18 months, thanks to a critical senior management appointment which resulted in a huge shift of human resources. Advisers voted with their feet, changing affiliations to AAAFG in an eyebrow-raising show of personal allegiance.
A barrister turned finance professional, and once the NT Commissioner for Corporate Affairs, Ken Wybrow came to Adelaide in 1987 as director of a stockbroking firm. He and his business partner Kathryn Howes started financial planning under the AAA Shares banner in 1999. The firm began trading as AAA Financial Group Limited in 2004 and its head office is in Morphett Vale.
Structurally, AAAFG provides a range of services to consumer agents - advisers - who deal with customers. Present services include share investment, mortgage Lending, retirement planning, superannuation, fixed interest deposits and risk and life insurance.
“The business is essentially the same and became a different structure as we added new services,” says Ken.
“We have not acquired any businesses. We have acquired individuals from competitors by offering better terms and environment for business. We engaged a managing director in April-May 2005 and he attacked the market share of our competitors.”
It's an interesting story. AAAFG was a fairly unassuming operation until February 2005 when Mawson Group, which had been a financial and compliance services client, attempted to acquire AAAFG to bring those services in-house.
The buy-out attempt failed - and in return, AAAFG headhunted one of Mawson Group's gun managers, Errol Rabaud, who had been CEO of Mawson subsidiary Aurora Financial Services.
Errol became AAAFG's managing director. He remained on the east coast but immediately launched a recruitment drive for the AAA brand. Upheaval followed as Mawson adviser...
