Monday saw the announcement of two major M&A deals in high-net-worth (HNW) part of the advice market.
LGT Crestone will pick up Commonwealth Bank’s private wealth arm CBA Private, while NSW-based financial planning businesses Evalesco Financial Services will merge with Principal Edge Financial Services.
Asked by Professional Planner on the value of the deal, LGT Crestone declined to comment on that matter.
“LGT Crestone does not disclose monetary values related to such transactions,” CEO Michael Chisholm says.
“We remain focused on the strategic benefits of this acquisition and our commitment to providing exceptional wealth management services.”
LGT Crestone will pick up 19 advisers and 20 support staff, covering 500 clients with $5 billion in funds under advice.
“We’ve extended offers to all of CBA Private’s advisers, associates, and support staff, recognising their experience and supporting their career growth within our organisation,” Chisholm says.
“We’re confident that the staff will choose to join LGT Crestone, given the exciting opportunities and supportive work environment we offer, plus the opportunity to continue developing and building the deep personal relationships they’ve established with clients.”
Crestone was created in 2015 when former leaders and advisers from UBS Wealth Management was bought out the company, and in 2022 it was acquired by Liechtenstein crown-owned LGT.
The acquisition is expected to be completed mid-next year with the aim to further solidify LGT Crestone’s national presence, which has 350 employees including over 100 advisers in offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
For Evalesco, current CEO Jeff Thurecht will continue to lead the combined business, while Principal Edge Founder Bruce Kluk will remain on as a director, owner and financial adviser.
Evalesco’s client base ranges from high income executives to wealthy pre and post retirees, while Principal Edge has a more HNW client base, including a growing family office offering.
“Bruce has been running the business for a really long time, he doesn’t want to run the business day to day anymore, but he wants to focus on continuing to grow the business,” Thurecht says.
The combined business will have 35 team members, including 15 advisers, covering $1.3 billion in client money.
“Part of our strategic plan was looking for a meaningful merger or acquisition to capitalise on the good foundations that we’ve laid in our business and continue to grow that,” Thurecht says.
“We’ve been having chats with a number of different businesses over the last few years and most of them haven’t got much past the chat…but this one felt really aligned with the people at the table.”
Leading the business alongside Thurecht is director Marshall Brentnall and general manager Belinda Marley-Wallace, both also from Evalesco.
Principal Edge was founded 36 years ago by Kluk. All staff, including its six advisers, will remain in the business and both brands will continue.
“They’ve got a really long-standing, loyal team here as well,” Thurecht says. “We’re looking to create opportunities for those teams to stay together and continue to grow.”
Of the 15 advisers in the combined offering, six will be women – a much higher male/female adviser ratio than the industry average of around 23 per cent.
Not included in that figure is Marley-Wallace who has risen up the company from being a junior adviser 16 years ago, to now running the firm’s operations.
Marley-Wallace says their recruiting strategy has been based around hiring younger women and building their careers.
“Bringing in the right people at the right time and coming in at the associate level or in client services…they’re really keen and hungry and the value the mentorship they get,” Marley-Wallace says.
“I came on and worked my way up the business and through natural progression it led to this general manager role. I’ve done all the study, done what I needed to do and went down to this leadership path.”
