Australian Financial Services Group (AFS) CEO Alan Logan has instigated a strategic review to define the company’s direction following the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms.

The review – being conducted by Seaview Consulting – is “looking at the external landscape and asking what business model of the future covers the whole business”, Mr Logan says.

Mr Logan says the relationship between AFS and its dealers is under scrutiny “because there’s an absolute war for distribution going on at the moment and advisers have lots of alternatives to think about”.

Advisers are “questioning what they need from their relationship [with AFS]”, Mr Logan says.

The review – lasting eight to 12 weeks – will help determine areas of strategic advantage.

“Licensees have to be very clear about where their advantages lie and how to differentiate themselves,” Mr Logan told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “There’s no point offering back-office services to dealers that are of low value.”

FOFA reforms that ban commissions on retail investment products are “not an issue for a large number of AFS advisers who operate on a fee-for-service model already”, he says.

Mr Logan is also conducting an internal restructure, which has seen the head of distribution position scrapped and the recent incumbent, Mark Ryan, made redundant.