Escala founder’s opening move in AI-driven advice for UHNWs
Pep Perry founded and ran Escala Partners for 13 years before building Othello, an end-to-end advice platform for DIY ultra-high-net-worth individuals. It has embedded agentic AI running three modules covering onboarding, investing and reporting.
September 23, 2026
Esencia Wealth adds MDA licence through Generation Wealth merger
Esencia Wealth has added a managed discretionary account capability to its arsenal through a merger with Generation Wealth Partners, as it pushes ahead with its growth-by-merger strategy.
September 23, 2026
Fewer, clearer decisions: Hamilton Wealth takes the OCIO route
An idea that started with a conversation in New York has led to Hamilton Wealth Partners opt for an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) arrangement. The firm’s founder and chief executive, Will Hamilton, says he believes the payoff will be in better returns, improved client experience and increased advice capacity within the business.
September 22, 2026
FAAA calls for review of proposed data breach report deadline
The Financial Advice Association Australia’s submission to privacy reform consultation recommends clarifications including how certain points will work alongside existing regulations, and a review of the 72-hour data breach report deadline.
September 22, 2026
The ‘kids’ inheriting older clients’ wealth might soon be retirees themselves
The conventional wisdom that the kids of advisers’ oldest clients stand to inherit their wealth might be overlooking the fact that by the time it happens these “kids” are likely to be near or in retirement themselves. The 2026 Generational Report suggests that advisers and businesses looking for a client refresh could be better off focusing on the grandchildren.
September 21, 2026
Clients’ prolonged ‘frailty years’ is a risk advisers must consider
Data shows that older Australians are spending a larger share of retirement with severe disability. In the final decade of retirement, people are less concerned about maintaining a comfortable lifestyle and more concerned about losing independence and becoming a burden on family, yet traditional retirement planning does not adequately manage this risk, writes Assyat David, director of Aged Care Steps.
September 21, 2026
No single model wins: advice ownership set to stay diverse
The ownership and structure of financial advice businesses will remain varied and diverse in coming years. Whether it’s employee-owned, consolidation into so-called “super firms” or even fragmentation as established teams spin out into their own businesses, no single model is likely to dominate.
September 18, 2026
How Nvidia’s Jensen Huang could reshape geopolitics for investors
Stanford University professor Stephen Kotkin says computing power will become the key geopolitical contest between the US and China, predicting Nvidia founder and chief executive Jensen Huang will become an increasingly central figure in international relations. The comments came as Kotkin met with Conexus Financial founder Colin Tate AM and chair Geoff Lloyd in the famed Hoover Tower ahead of the Top1000Funds.com Fiduciary Investors Symposium at Stanford.
September 18, 2026
Big data could help predict the next big advice ‘calamity’
FAAA chief executive officer Sarah Abood wants technology to be used to head off the next disaster in the financial advice space. Predictive models offer the opportunity to use data to detect and prevent the next collapse.
September 17, 2026
Class action against Macquarie echoes soon-to-be-eliminated ‘but for’ determinations
A class action against Macquarie Investment Management over its role in the collapse of the Shield master fund claims it should compensate investors for investment returns they missed out on by not being invested somewhere else. It echoes the controversial “but for” determinations made by AFCA, which from June next year will be eliminated.
September 17, 2026
Claude for advisers has regulators and competitors on alert
ASIC says it is closely monitoring developments such as the new Claude for financial advisers’ plugin – launched this week – and its potential implications for the Australian market. Incumbent tech vendors are also watching.
September 16, 2026
Something’s wrong when the biggest bill lands with the smallest players
Advice networks are the least “valuable” links in the wealth management chain, yet when something goes wrong they’re too often left to carry the can, even when a failure is not their fault. Unless this flaw is addressed, we will still be here in five years' time talking about the same thing: all that will have changed is the names of the players involved.
September 16, 2026
