The new wealth management division has been created to align its portfolio of offerings, including leveraged equities, Adelaide Bank wealth deposits, Sandhurst Trustees, Victorian Securities, Bendigo Financial Planning and Insurance, with its retail bank which has 1.4 million customers.
The bank said the move is driven by feedback from their distribution partners, who wanted greater consistency across their product range.
The newly created division will be lead by John Billington, who joined the bank in September last year.
The bank said it will promote the Bendigo Wealth by continuing to open more branches and recruiting more financial advisers and growing their distribution networks.
The bank has currently about 70 financial planners and 50 customer facing staff who are qualified to provide financial advice, and AUS$4bn in funds under management.
Bendigo managing director Mike Hirst said the realignment and expansion of their wealth management operations will see them pursue opportunities that will position the group to manage a greater share of the growing Australian managed investment pool, along with life, risk and general insurance that their distribution partners may have overlooked when dealing with one part of their wealth offering.
