SMSF Partners rebrands amid CWS deal
Accounting-focused AFSL holder SMSF Partners has officially changed its name, as it completes the acquisition of former advisers of collapsed group Custom Wealth Solutions.
The receiver appointed to CWS Dealer Services, Geoff Davis of BCR Advisory, wrote a letter to the CWS authorised representatives dated July 7 explaining that Queensland-based company SMSF Partners has now “acquired the right to bring the [CWS] dealers under its own AFS licence,” as previously foreshadowed by SMSF Adviser.
Meanwhile, ASIC documents confirm that on June 24, SMSF Partners Pty Ltd filed a “notification of resolution changing company name”, officially changing its brand to MyPlanner Australia.
One of the former CWS authorised representatives – speaking to SMSF Adviser on condition of anonymity – speculated that the brand change is an “attempt to broaden from self-managed super and look like a fully-fledged dealer group”.
A separate communication sent from MyPlanner Australia to the new recruits on Wednesday explained that commissions owed to the former CWS advisers are now forthcoming.
“We confirm that commissions for the week ending 22 June 2014 have been paid today and commissions for the week ending 29 June 2014 will be paid tomorrow,” the email stated.
“All commission paid into the CWS Dealer Services account will continue to be paid weekly until all outstanding commissions have been paid and resolved.”
The SMSF Partners website had not rebranded as MyPlanner Australia by the time SMSF Adviser went to press, maintaining its self-description as a company “by SMSF specialist accountants, for SMSF specialist accountants”.
MyPlanner Australia/SMSF Partners chief executive David Mardell has not responded to numerous requests for interview.
