[The Wrap] What to make of changes in dealer group land

Seeing Newpark go isn't that much of a surprise. The group has really been struggling with how to set itself up for the new licensing regime which comes into effect March next year.

What I, and others, have all said is seeing SHARE essentially take over the group is not something I would have picked in a million years. The two are chalk and cheese. A corporatised model versus one which was really a loose arrangement between the group and its member firms.

One of the things this deal highlights is that Newpark was really a group for the old regime - it was not one which fitted under the Financial Services Amendment Legislation Act (FSLAA).

While Newpark had gone down the FAP path it was a different path to the one taken by the rest of the advice world. It choose to be a FAP with no advisers. Indeed the group has been clear for a long time. I know people in high places could not understand how this model would work, and as one well-placed person suggested, under that model Newpark would be right at the top of the FMA's monitoring list.