Akumin wants to support ambitious quality firms

Akumin has had at least two financial planning businesses join the AFSL in 2026, one with more than 120 advisers and another with just two staff in their financial planning business.

Akumin CEO Matt Lawler tells Professional Planner that the licensee’s growth strategy is focused on the ambitions and quality of potential target firms, not their size.

“We’re at our best when we’re working with quality firms that have ambitions. [Firms] that want to grow, that are not happy with where they are today, and they’re eager to evolve. That’s probably where we’re at our best,” Lawler says.

“And if there are businesses out there that do have ambitions, and that could be to grow, it could be succession planning, it could be to add new services, it could be to increase the number of clients they look after, mergers, acquisitions. We’re well equipped to look after all of those, assist firms with all of those ambitions.”

Aperio Financial Services has joined the Akumin AFSL with plans to grow its financial advice services while receiving support from Akumin around recruitment, paraplanning, technology and marketing.

Since joining Akumin in February, Aperio has already added one person to its financial planning business, purchased a new Melbourne office, hired five new accounting staff and has plans to add at least another 15 staff to the business.

“The plan is over the next three to six months to try and feed as much as we can from the accounting side of the business and refer clients over to financial planning and finance,” Aperio practice manager Jim Gulabovski tells Professional Planner.

Aperio, which has been around for approximately 40 years, has about 350 active advice clients. It also has an accounting firm, Tax Matters; and a mortgage broker, 123 Loans. It has more than 200 self-managed super fund clients and deals with 230 different companies and trusts.

Challenges and opportunities of working with a large AFSL

Akumin works with 230 businesses ranging from one operator to practices with 120 advisers, as in the case of Ironbark Advice. Gulabovski says that for Aperio, the benefit is about partnering with the right business for them to achieve their goals, while for Akumin it is about growing the number of firms they deal with.

“And it’s very hard for a small business to get access to some of the services that we offer, so they then partner with us, and then we can supply those services,” Lawler says.

Aperio has a long history, from being self-licensed for 20 years to working with boutique AFSLs but this is the first time it has been part of a large licensee network.

Gulabovski says that, until now Aperio, didn’t have the skill set for marketing services or technology support.

“We’ve had to do everything ourselves over the years, and especially the last sort of eight years being with a really small boutique. They provided the license for us, but there was no real background support in terms of helping us grow and improve efficiencies within the business.”

He says that Aperio now has access to a whole suite of services including technology, training, advice on which software to use and with the future implementation of AI.

Lawler says Aperio is “very entrepreneurial”.

“They’re very open to new ideas and to growing. I think that’s important as well. The willingness of people and the ambition of people is really important,” he says.

“This is also part of Akumin’s repositioning as being more than just a licensee, and our positioning that we are a business partner, because we do things that are more than what is required by the licence, but importantly, it helps a financial advice firm become successful, and that could be technology, other solutions like mortgage solutions, or portfolio construction services. It could be a whole lot of services that they access that it is good for their business and will help grow their business.”

Ironbark adds 120 advisors

The Ironbark addition was announced earlier this month and, according to Lawler, is probably the largest individual advisory firm in the Akumin network as a result of being in the market since the 1950s and having acquired many small advice businesses along the way.

“They’re now of sufficient size that we’ve actually carved out a separate license for them so that they that they are actually in a license by themselves,” Lawler says.

“We’re ready to grow, and I think Aperio is a good example, and what we’re doing with Ironbark is a good example of us growing as a business as well.

“We’re open for any firms that are looking to assess whether we’re the right business partner and we’re open to any discussions. I personally speak to businesses that that are interested in just assessing whether where they are now is the right place for them, or whether there’s something that we can work together with them on.”