Modern networks are taking in members' money but do not show enough care for the advisers, according to Ahmed Bawa, chief executive of Rosemount Financial Solutions.
After all, that's what the regulator wants, he says.
But being part of a network is about more than just compliance, it's about caring for the advisers, ensuring they have access to training and feel looked after, according to Bawa.
"If you go back to the old days, the fundamentals were about looking after the advisers," Bawa adds.
"Nothing was more important, and firms like Allied Dunbar would devote a lot of time and energy into helping their advisers in any way possible.
"That has changed, though.
"Networks aren’t looking after their members in the same way: they are treating them as a revenue stream, so of course advisers are going to question how well they are being treated and whether they are getting value for money."
A natural evolution
To some extent a new focus can be explained by networks' evolution away from life insurer backing and towards becoming stand-alone businesses.
Scott Taylor-Barr, principal adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management, who once was national account manager for a lender and has experience in dealing with various networks, explains: "The network model has changed over the years and some businesses have been set up outside of the life office umbrella, as stand-alone businesses.
"This required a very different mindset, a more business-like mindset, which took a while to develop, with many of the original firms in the space collapsing or becoming something else over the years.
"We now have a number of stand-alone distribution networks that have to be profitable to survive and to attract investment and grow, just like any modern business of scale."
But he takes a less critical view on the effect this has had on the state of the market overall.
"Those that do the best in this current market are those that can balance the profitability of running a distribution business and valuing and looking after the member advice firms within it.
"After all, they are the network's real customers," he says.
"In the current market I think the majority of businesses get this about right, although not all, as the recent collapse of Tenet shows."
Taylor-Barr decided to nestle his business within the Openwork Partnership.
He says when making this decision, he looked at whether the people and culture were a good fit, the fees and charges, and whether they were delivering value for money.
A focus on service
Rosemount has taken on 12 adviser ARs so far this year and more joined the network as trading styles.
One of the new ARs, Rumi Miah, director of Rumi Mortgages, says he valued the support given "from all areas of the business", which made him feel appreciated "and not just a number".
