Meritum Financial Group was rebranded as Consortium Private Wealth from Tuesday.

Financial adviser Robert Goudie said after a 13-year relationship with the National Australia Bank owned Meritum, the time had come for a change.

“We’ve set up our own Australian Financial Services Licence called Consortium Private Wealth,” he said.

“We were keen to move to an environment where we were self-licensed and free from any banks.

“This will allow us to put our systems in place and offer what’s in the best interest of the customers.”

Mr Goudie said the business would now have no ownership from institutions such as banks, fund managers, or life insurers.

“It gives us the control we need to provide common sense outcomes for our clients,” he said.

“The new company name reflects the business’ long-standing theme whereby our advisers work together with our clients to provide outcomes that they understand while having input into the final result.”

Mr Goudie said it would mostly be business as usual for customers going forward.

“For the most part we will continue to do what we’ve done in the past,” he said.

“We will continue to provide advice services such as advice on self-managed superannuation funds, investment planning, personal insurance and debt planning and aged care advice.

“This change just means we have more control over what we’re doing without a big bank looking over our shoulder.”

Mr Goudie said it was a 12-month process to get to this point. 

”It’s an extensive process to go through to apply to get an Australian Financial Services Licence, they don’t hand them out willy-nilly,” he said.

Financial adviser Ashley Rowan said becoming self-licensed and separating the company from the large institutions was by far the harder and more complex option for any financial planning business.

“However, we have recognised that investors want advice that is free from conflicts of interest and is in their best interests first and foremost,” he said.