Licensee Oreana has partnered with advice consultancy Encore Advisory Group to help boost its equity stake capabilities.
Oreana will continue to provide capital solutions and operational services, while Encore helps business owners make informed strategic decisions, plan effectively, and execute their growth vision.
Oreana managing director Jonathan Christie tells Professional Planner the relationship with Encore represents a shift in its strategy from investing in businesses since its commencement in 2018.
Following the Hayne royal commission, regulatory changes accelerated Oreana’s equity stake model via its licensee model. Over the past two years, Oreana has completed five transactions.
Partnering with Encore is “accelerating that with the right capital”, according to Christie.
“We’re at a point now where we need to accelerate that strategy and so to accelerate it, you need more capability,” Christie says.
“We’re not going to achieve our goal of investing and growing 15 to 20 businesses over the next eight years to help them grow without other capabilities sitting alongside us. We would have continued to acquire on our own strategy at our pace.”
Encore CEO Mark Zaglas is equally positive about the partnership with Oreana, describing it as a good fit.
“A number of businesses in the Oreana community are long-term Encore clients – so we already have a strong relationship and a natural fit with the community,” Zaglas says.
Oreana was searching for a partner company with similar values that would provide the capability to help businesses to help them achieve their goals and plans.
“Oreana is a partner that shares our vision and values,” Zaglas says.
“With Oreana wanting to do more to help advice businesses grow and looking for a partner to provide specialist practice management services, we feel this is a great match.”
Christie says a part of the decision to form a partnership with Encore is both parties understand what financial advice and accounting businesses want to achieve.
Zaglas also referenced the importance of financial advice and said the partnership helps accelerate that passion and purpose.
“By helping businesses break through growth barriers, scale up and be more sustainable we get to play our part in helping more Australians to access quality financial advice and build better futures,” Zaglas says.
Christie says that “when we invest in businesses moving forward, they will have Oreana and Encore at the table”.
He describes Encore as “a true partner that will sit along beside them to help [businesses] navigate what their goals and objectives are”.
Zaglas says the partnership “is about providing active capital and capability”. In its partnership with Encore, Oreana has the manpower to help businesses implement their individual strategies.
Oreana’s value proposition is to invest in businesses to help them either grow or exit the market with a succession plan in place without taking control away from the business owners.
“We are sitting as a genuine partner to enable them to achieve their business plans, goals and objectives, and making ensuring that they stay in control of their business through that journey,” Christie says.
He says he doesn’t believe businesses have that currently. Instead, businesses are trying to navigate this transition independently.
Through its partnership with Encore, Oreana now has “a capability that can plug in to businesses we invest in to help them think about what you’re trying to achieve and execute on their plan”.
“We believe [Encore has] a really good specialist capability, which we can deploy into businesses,” Christie says.
