Jacobsen’s appointment follows the recent decision by David Carney, VBP Co-founder and longstanding CEO, to step back from day-to-day management to focus on business development, marketing and innovation.

Paul Barrett, Chairman of VBP and CEO of AZ NGA, said Jacobsen’s track record of successfully transforming wealth management businesses and his experience in strategy, technology and M&A strongly positioned him to lead VBP into its next phase of growth.

“Nathan is a highly respected financial services executive and we are extremely fortunate to have him on board to lead this dynamic business. VBP’s vision and purpose is to support professional advisory firms to grow and deliver generational change for their clients and, over the last decade, it has become an invaluable business partner to some of Australia’s best advice businesses,” Barrett said.

“David Carney has done an incredible job of turning VBP into Australia’s leading adviser services utility and we are pleased that he will remain with the business to facilitate a smooth leadership transition and play a key role in the group’s ongoing success.”

In his new role as Head of Growth, Carney will report to Jacobsen.

VBP was established in 2013 by David Carney and David Deegan to deliver a range of outsourced business solutions including financial planning administration, accounting and bookkeeping, paraplanning and mortgage broking support.

In 2023, the group acquired Elixir Consulting, significantly expanding its capability and capacity to provide business coaching, strategy and consulting.

The Australian-owned, Sydney and Philippines-based group, which has over 1250 team members and 260 clients, is a Certified B Corporation (B Corp) and has consistently been recognised by Great Place to Work.

According to Jacobsen, the skills shortage in Australia was holding businesses back from helping more people, which increased the need and relevance of VBP’s proposition.

“One of the biggest challenges facing businesses is finding and maintaining talent, and VBP is ideally positioned to help advisers solve that problem. There is also an exciting opportunity to help advisers achieve scale and efficiency benefits through process optimization and the effective use of technology,” he said.

“I am excited to lead this fantastic business, as we continue investing in people, products and solutions.”

Jacobsen departed Diverger in March, following the group’s merger with Count. Prior to his role at Diverger, he held a number of senior positions including Managing Director of Paragem and General Manager of Perpetual Private.

He was also formerly an officer in the Australian Navy.

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