ASX-listed Generation Development Group has continued its rapid expansion in wealth, confirming that it will acquire the Evidentia asset consulting business for $320 million.
Generation said it will acquire 100 per cent of Evidentia, partly funded by a $287.9 million fully underwritten placement of shares and the issue of $75.1 million of new shares to Evidentia shareholders.
Generation told the ASX that after the transaction it will operate three distinct businesses: Generation Life, Lonsec Research and Ratings, and Evidentia Group. Evidentia Group will be formed by merging Evidentia with Lonsec Investment Solutions, and will distribute Lonsec-branded products and offerings.
Evidentia, set up in 2019, builds and manages tailored investment portfolios for private wealth firms and has $13 billion in funds under management.
Lonsec CEO Michael Wright, who has led the researcher for the past four years, will take up the role of Evidentia Group CEO.
GDG, which owns investment bond issuer Generation Life, is led by executive chairman Rob Coombe, who is also a non-executive director of Colonial First State, a former CEO of BT Financial Group and former chair of MLC Australia; and by CEO and former Olympic swimmer Grant Hackett, who was promoted to the role in December 2024 after leading Generation Life in a similar capacity for four years.
In a statement Hackett said the Evidentia transaction “represents another significant milestone in GDG’s growth strategy, following the successful acquisition of the remaining equity interests in Lonsec in 2024”.
“Since launching in 2020, Evidentia has grown into a leading player in the rapidly expanding managed accounts market,” Hackett said.
“The transaction presents a highly strategic growth opportunity for GDG, given the complementary nature of the Evidentia and Lonsec Investment Solutions businesses.”
Hackett said Evidentia’s managed account solutions, client communications expertise and financial advice practice management experience, would be combined with Lonsec’s “heritage of knowledge, broad managed account offering and strength in research” to deliver a more complete and scalable offering.
“This will provide financial advisers and their clients with an even stronger value proposition, access to deeper insights, more extensive investment solutions and an integrated service experience that ultimately supports better outcomes for both financial advisers and clients,” he said.
“This transaction will be a continuation of the best-in-class services that both Lonsec and Evidentia have to offer.”
The acquisition follows GDG’s acquisition of researcher Lonsec last June, leading the researcher to discontinue its ratings of Gen Life to mitigate a potential conflict of interest.
GDG is an investment company which provides tax effective investment solutions and development capital to finance businesses since being founded in 1991, when it was known as Austock Group.
It owns Generation Life, a specialist provider of investment bond product solutions and investment options focused on saving for retirement.
Under Hackett, funds under management (FUM) increased 157.8 per cent from $1.5 billion to $3.8 billion between December 2020 and 2024, according to the firm’s 2Q25 business update.
