When Strategic Partnership Delivers Seamless Financial Planning Solutions

When APT Wealth faced the challenge of finding reliable, high-quality paraplanning support after their long-term provider retired, they discovered a strategic partnership with Mutual Plans that has delivered consistent results from 2019.

"We struggled for two or three years to find an external provider that met our criteria," Rhett Pudney, Head of Compliance and Licensee Operations at APT Wealth, said. The organisation's requirements were specific and non-negotiable: providers needed to be based in Australia with local financial planning knowledge whilst meeting APT Wealth's quality control standards.

The search proved more difficult than anticipated. During the period between 2016 and 2019, APT Wealth discovered that a lot of outsourced paraplanning providers are offshore, with many services coming from the subcontinent or even from organisations based in Bulgaria. This geographic dispersion created significant quality and knowledge gaps.

"When we tried engaging with overseas providers, the knowledge of Australian financial planning strategies, as well as the quality of the plans themselves, was not very good," Pudney said. The organisation realised that the only option was a local provider that understood Australian financial planning regulations, strategies, and client expectations.

Rhett Pudney

Rhett Pudney

Head of Compliance and Licensee Operations

The Solution: A Strategic Partnership with Mutual Plans

APT Wealth's partnership with Mutual Plans began around 2019, initially "on an ad hoc basis." What started as a trial relationship has evolved into a comprehensive strategic partnership spanning from 2019.

The decision to work with external providers rather than expand internal capabilities was driven by practical considerations. "That's really a cost rationalisation," Pudney explains. "If you have internal staff and internal paraplanners, you have to pay payroll, you have to pay all the resources. You've got to train them, you've got to house them. You've got to have annual leave for them."

Additionally, the seasonal nature of financial planning work meant that maintaining full-time internal staff wasn't always economically justified. "Paraplanning is seasonal, so you're not always going to have the numbers to justify full-time internal staff just to ensure that you can cover the peak season," Pudney added.

Seamless Integration and Operational Excellence

One of the most significant advantages of the Mutual Plans partnership has been the seamless integration with APT Wealth's existing processes and systems. This integration was crucial for maintaining consistency across internal and external planning capabilities.

"We find that there are excellent synergies,” Pudney said. “They work with our processes. We work with theirs. We've embedded both their requirements for their portfolio lodgement system in with our advisory systems with the advisors."

This integration has been so successful that, as Pudney said "the advisors can find no difference between the internal paraplanning capabilities and the external in the way that they work together." This seamless experience was a critical success factor, as APT Wealth had previously tried other paraplanning solutions where they needed to be the ones to adapt, and that ultimately didn’t work out well.

So a key difference with Mutual Plans was their willingness to adapt: "We need the power players to adapt to the way that we do things, because we don't want to have any separation in the way between our internal and external planning,” Pudney said.

Collaborative Partnership Approach

The relationship between APT Wealth and Mutual Plans extends beyond a traditional vendor-client arrangement to what Pudney describes as "very much a symbiotic relationship." This collaborative approach includes regular communication between APT Wealth's internal paraplanning team and Mutual Plans' professionals.

"They have a chat. They always come to us with ideas about what they can do better, how they can improve the way they're doing things,” Pudney said.

This ongoing dialogue ensures continuous improvement and maintains alignment between both organisations' quality standards and operational approaches.

Perhaps the most telling indicator of the partnership's success is the consistent quality and reliability that Mutual Plans has delivered from 2019. When asked about instances where Mutual Plans had gone above and beyond expectations, Pudney's response was telling:

"I'm never really surprised because it's always been on the top shelf quality. They always deliver within their defined timeframes. They always deliver quality. It's always so good that there’s no need for them to go ‘above and beyond’."

This consistency has practical implications for APT Wealth's operations and client service delivery. "It means that we don't have that pressure of wondering where our paraplanning is going to be sorted out or making sure that the advisor's needs are met.”

Strategic Partnership Benefits

Mutual Plans are more than just a service provider. When asked whether he would characterise them as a strategic partner, Pudney responded definitively: "Yeah, definitely.”

The partnership delivers several key strategic benefits:

  • Cost Optimisation: By utilising external planning support, APT Wealth avoids the fixed costs associated with additional full-time staff whilst maintaining service levels during peak periods.
  • Quality Assurance: Mutual Plans' Australian-based team brings local market knowledge and regulatory understanding that offshore providers couldn't match.
  • Operational Reliability: Consistent delivery timeframes and quality standards ensure that APT Wealth can maintain predictable service levels for their advisors and clients.
  • Scalability: The partnership provides flexibility to handle varying workloads without the constraints of fixed internal capacity.

The success of the APT Wealth and Mutual Plans partnership demonstrates the value of finding the right strategic partner rather than simply the lowest-cost provider. Pudney's assessment of the team reinforces this: "Silvia's good to work with her teams. Top notch. I don't usually have any issues with them at all and have issues with everyone."

This partnership has enabled APT Wealth to maintain high service standards whilst optimising operational costs, providing a model for other financial services organisations facing similar challenges. The relationship continues to evolve, with both organisations committed to ongoing improvement and collaboration that benefits their respective clients and stakeholders.