Geoff Lloyd will reunite with Perpetual to lead its spun-out wealth management arm purchased by Bain Capital.
The ASX-listed Perpetual Limited announced to the exchange on Monday morning that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its wealth management business to Bain Capital in a deal that could be worth $550 million.
Geoff Lloyd, who was chief executive of Perpetual from 2012 to 2018, will become the executive chair of the business under Bain Capital’s ownership.
Lloyd tells Professional Planner that he expects his role to be longer term, and the goal during his tenure is to stand up the business and invest for growth.
“Bain will not just be an investor in the business, they recognise the heritage of it,” Lloyd says.
“They will be a wonderful custodian and steward of the business, and they understand the fiduciary nature of it.”
Lloyd is also chair of Conexus Financial, the publisher of Professional Planner. Conexus Financial and Perpetual are unrelated corporate entities.
Bain will pay $500 million upfront, subject to conditions and an earn out payment of $50 million relating to the performance of the accounting and wealth operations following the deal’s completion, which will be tested and payable from two years onwards.
As part of the transaction, Perpetual will license the Perpetual Wealth and Perpetual Private brands to the new Perpetual Wealth Management Group entity for 15 years and Perpetual will continue to own all rights to the Perpetual brand.
The 135-year-old Perpetual Wealth Management has $21.9 billion in funds under advice (as at 31 December 2025), servicing high-net worth clients, not-for-profits, and private businesses through brands such as Perpetual Private, Fordham, Jacaranda Financial Planning and Priority Life.
Proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduce debt and support investment in Perpetual’s asset management and corporate trust arms, which Perpetual CEO and managing director Bernard Reilly said will be the core business focus.
“We believe we have found the right owner for the wealth management business to help it continue to grow and deliver high quality products and services to its clients,” Reilly said in a media release.
Perpetual will provide transitional services relating to technology and operational services for up to 18 months following completion of the deal with an option to extend the arrangement for another six months.
Both parties intend to complete the sale transaction towards the end of the 2026 calendar year, subject to the Foreign Investment Review Board’s and Australian Competition and Consumers Commission’s approvals.
Australian-based partners Mike Murphy and Charles Lawson led the Bain Capital investment.
The deal with Bain comes after earlier negotiations with KKR failed to pan out. On 8 May 2024, Perpetual announced it would sell its name, wealth management business and corporate trust arm to private equity investor KKR for $2.2 billion to focus on asset management.
Instead, the rebranded Perpetual Asset Management will enter a brand licensing arrangement with KKR for the Perpetual Australian equities team to continue to use the name for a period of up to seven years.
Proceeds from the sale would pay off debt with the remainder going to shareholders, but Perpetual was told by the Australian Taxation Office later that year there would be unavoidable tax consequences for shareholders, where the estimated cash proceeds range to shareholders would reduce from $8.38-$9.82 per share to $5.74-$6.42 per share.
The independent expert appointed to advise on the KKR deal for shareholders recommended that the deal was not in the best interests of shareholders and Perpetual backed out of the deal on 24 February 2026.
On 5 November 2025, Perpetual announced it had entered into an exclusivity deed with Bain Capital for the potential sale of its wealth management business, after previously revealing that it was in discussions with multiple parties for the sale of its wealth arm.
Bain was one of the key players chasing the acquisition of Insignia Financial which resulted in a $3.3 billion purchase by CC Capital.
Bain first offered $2.7 billion to acquire Insignia in December 2024, which was rejected, but it kicked off a bidding war in early 2025.
Before CC Capital closed the deal in July 2025, Bain backed out of buying Insignia citing “macro uncertainty” caused by global capital market volatility in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariff announcements on 2 April 2025. At the time, Bain had one day of extended exclusivity due diligence remaining.
