Lifetime puts all advisers into salaries

TMM Online can reveal that Lifetime advisers have agreed to move to a salary structure with share bonuses.

The new structure sees Lifetime adopt a model used by Camelot advisers for several years.

Peter Cave, Managing Director of Lifetime, said the move was part of the integration process between the two groups, which announced a merger in April last year. 

Cave believes the pay structure is more "client-centric", and will be better suited to the new regulatory environment, placing more focus on customer outcomes, and less on sales-driven targets.

He said: "The driver was putting the two models together and working out the right one going forward. With a close watch on what's going on globally with the Royal Commission, and saying where do we add value? In the client service model. It was a natural fit for us."

Cave added: "We sat down and looked at how we manage advice relationships on behalf of clients. It's far easier with this structure than with commission-sharing arrangements. We are giving our board comfort that clients are going to be best looked after."

"We wanted a more corporate model in this new regulatory framework. We thought, instead of working silos, let's put them into a team environment with group performance and remuneration," Cave said.

Lifetime will be a FAP under the new regime with advisers working underneath the licence.

Cave believes lenders will prefer a "central management structure" under the new regime, rather than "dealing with individuals one on one": "We've had good support from suppliers, acknowledging that this is a structure that makes sense for them as well."

Cave said not all advisers agreed to the model, and subsequently, "a few decided it wasn't the model for them": "Some have gone out on their own, but the majority have stayed," he said.