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The general manager of leading aggregator eChoice has revealed that it has seen its broker numbers grow in excess of 35 per cent in the last 12 months.
The aggregator has seen its broker numbers increase by 35 per cent over the past year, and now has more than 400 brokers.
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Speaking to The Adviser, eChoice general manager Blake Buchanan said that reaching 400 brokers has been a milestone for the company.
He added that eChoice aims to continue to grow until it reaches 500 brokers, which he anticipates will be within 2017.
“But we wish to stay in the boutique class of aggregation,” Mr Buchanan emphasised. “Because what’s important to us are the three ingredients that are so important to brokers: systems, support and the economy of it all.”
“With 500 brokers, our business is scaled to offer exemplary support to those brokers, with many initiatives including academies, mentor programs, comprehensive PD days and sessions, national conferences, as well as the elite performers club,” he said.
“At that 500 number, we inherently understand that we can provide that support, whereas if we grow beyond that we would have to scale up our business… and in the interim while we’re going through that scaling process, perhaps the support will drop a little bit, and that’s something that we can’t afford to have drop off, because it’s one of the three core ingredients for our business’ success.”
For new-to-industry brokers in particular, Mr Buchanan explained that eChoice offers a mentoring program, which combines face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, marketing compliance and sales check-ups, in addition to a system that allows mentees to ask their peers and industry providers for solutions to their queries.
Looking forward, Mr Buchanan said that one of eChoice’s plans for the third-party channel this year is to continue to pursue its broker distribution growth to the 500 mark.
“We’ll continue to deploy new structures and programs for brokers to enhance their offerings to their consumers,” he added.
“We can’t afford to stand still in aggregation, the market is always evolving, and with that evolution, eChoice needs to adapt.”
[Related: Aggregator sees 27% rise in broker numbers]
