Neobroker Stake dumps Sanlam and eyes new wealth play
With one of Australia’s largest ‘licence for hire’ firms under a regulatory cloud, brokers are scrambling to attain their own AFSLs to protect their businesses.
The tide is beginning to turn on ‘shadow licensing’ in Australia’s financial services sector as the nation’s third largest retail broker Stake secures a licence in its own right and looks to evolve into a broader wealth management platform.
Stake, which was set up in 2017 and has amassed more than half a million customers, transitioned onto its own Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) on Monday as it revealed grand ambitions to move beyond being an online broker.
“It’s an important step for where we want to get to and for how we want the market and customers to perceive us,” CEO Jon Howie told Capital Brief.
After its biggest month for signing up self managed super fund (SMSF) customers, Howie hinted that Stake's strategic future would lie in becoming a diversified wealth platform.
