Former eChoice managers, brokers join rival aggregator

“Blake Buchanan was instrumental in the growth of eChoice in recent years but was not required as a part of CBA’s recent acquisition of eChoice — a decision that left many scratching their heads,” SFG managing director William Lockett said.

“An opportunity arose that fits in neatly with our timeline to procure the services of Blake. It became quickly apparent that Blake’s ideology around the broker channel, depth of knowledge and reputation would complement the current SFG strategy now and into the future,” Mr Lockett added.

Mr Buchanan confirmed that he is thrilled to be a part of the team at SFG as “there are simply too many synergies, particularly around the systems, support and opportunities of growth, at SFG to ignore”.

The Adviser understands that at least 30 brokers have moved from eChoice to SFG over the last month.

The boutique group, which is owned by managing director Will Lockett, prides itself on being one of the few aggregators in the industry that is not owned by a bank.

Earlier this year, Mr Lockett told The Adviser that he has an obligation to tell brokers his intentions for the company, given the prevalence of bank ownership within the third-party channel.

“We have clearly identified our business model as having no institutional ownership. We respect all the other aggregators, but their business model is their business model and ours is ours. Not seeking any institutional ownership is our point of difference. It is our view that banks shouldn’t be owning aggregators at all. We will never sell to a bank,” the managing director said. 

The Adviser understands that, in addition to more than 30 former eChoice brokers joining SFG, the aggregator has been steadily losing brokers to rival aggregators since it was acquired by CBA late last year.

[Related: Aggregator GM made redundant; top brokers jump ship]