Dan Jowett

Trading and wealth management fintech Openmarkets has expanded into private wealth advisory, onboarding several new advisers in the last 12 months, and bringing a suite of services to market as part of its strategic push into the $4.75 trillion^[1] wealth management sector.

Designed on a product-agnostic model, Openmarkets’ private wealth advisory business empowers advisers to operate their own business under Openmarkets’ Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), reaping the benefits of operating their business while benefitting from Openmarkets’ operational support, market infrastructure, technology solutions, compliance and expertise.

Since entering the private wealth market, Openmarkets has built a national network of advisers. Its ambition is for this business is to grow to 50 advisers over the next three years.

Openmarkets CEO, Dan Jowett, said Openmarkets’ private wealth offering reflects a shift toward privately owned businesses from traditional bank-aligned and broker-dealer models.

“Our private wealth business is designed to empower advisers with the autonomy to build and scale their own practices, while leveraging Openmarkets’ depth of infrastructure and expertise. Advisers own their client relationships and have the flexibility to run their business in a way that best serves their clients.

“Unlike traditional banks and brokers, we don’t carry many of the high overhead costs of legacy structures. This enables us to deliver a better commercial outcome for advisers, ensuring they can focus on growing their client portfolios rather than navigating institutional constraints.

“Our goal is to offer the best of both worlds: advisers gain the autonomy they value, and clients benefit from the resources and scale of a leading Australian wealth and fintech firm,” Jowett added.

Daniel Lalabalavu, Director and Senior Financial Adviser at Arima Investment Partners joined Openmarkets Group in March. Mr Lalabalavu said Openmarkets offers an attractive proposition built around independence, market-leading technology, and compliance.

“I started my practice because I wanted to provide clients with the same high-quality advice and outcomes I’ve delivered during my career, but with greater control over my business and operating model and no perverse incentive structures. I’ve been able to achieve this thanks to the licensing, technology, branding and support that Openmarkets provides,” said Mr Lalabalavu.

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Notes:
[1] Managed Funds, Australia, December 2023 | Australian Bureau of Statistics. Excluding superannuation, private wealth funds under management estimated at $1.2 trillion (Oliver Wyman, 2023).

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Dan Jowett

Trading and wealth management fintech Openmarkets has expanded into private wealth advisory, onboarding several new advisers in the last 12 months, and bringing a suite of services to market as part of its strategic push into the $4.75 trillion^[1] wealth management sector.

Designed on a product-agnostic model, Openmarkets’ private wealth advisory business empowers advisers to operate their own business under Openmarkets’ Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), reaping the benefits of operating their business while benefitting from Openmarkets’ operational support, market infrastructure, technology solutions, compliance and expertise.

Since entering the private wealth market, Openmarkets has built a national network of advisers. Its ambition is for this business is to grow to 50 advisers over the next three years.

Openmarkets CEO, Dan Jowett, said Openmarkets’ private wealth offering reflects a shift toward privately owned businesses from traditional bank-aligned and broker-dealer models.

“Our private wealth business is designed to empower advisers with the autonomy to build and scale their own practices, while leveraging Openmarkets’ depth of infrastructure and expertise. Advisers own their client relationships and have the flexibility to run their business in a way that best serves their clients.

“Unlike traditional banks and brokers, we don’t carry many of the high overhead costs of legacy structures. This enables us to deliver a better commercial outcome for advisers, ensuring they can focus on growing their client portfolios rather than navigating institutional constraints.

“Our goal is to offer the best of both worlds: advisers gain the autonomy they value, and clients benefit from the resources and scale of a leading Australian wealth and fintech firm,” Jowett added.

Daniel Lalabalavu, Director and Senior Financial Adviser at Arima Investment Partners joined Openmarkets Group in March. Mr Lalabalavu said Openmarkets offers an attractive proposition built around independence, market-leading technology, and compliance.

“I started my practice because I wanted to provide clients with the same high-quality advice and outcomes I’ve delivered during my career, but with greater control over my business and operating model and no perverse incentive structures. I’ve been able to achieve this thanks to the licensing, technology, branding and support that Openmarkets provides,” said Mr Lalabalavu.

———-

Notes:
[1] Managed Funds, Australia, December 2023 | Australian Bureau of Statistics. Excluding superannuation, private wealth funds under management estimated at $1.2 trillion (Oliver Wyman, 2023).

The post Openmarkets expands into private wealth advisory with market-leading licensee offering appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Dan Jowett

Trading and wealth management fintech Openmarkets Group (OMG) today announces it has acquired FXE Trading Academy (FXE), a member-based trading education and market research provider, for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2010, FXE provides education, research and analysis to its global member base across a broad range of financial instruments, with a particular focus on equities and options. FXE also has a significant YouTube presence, where it has 238,000 subscribers, more than half of which are in the United States. Collectively, its videos have been watched over 48 million times.

OMG’s acquisition will see FXE immediately integrate with OMG, with all its directors and staff remaining with the business. As part of OMG, FXE will be strongly supported to scale its operations with greater investment in brand, marketing, and content. For OMG, the acquisition provides an additional revenue stream and access to a global client and audience base for its options risk management technology.

The transaction is the latest in OMG’s new strategy launched in 2025, which has already seen it expand into decentralised finance (DeFi), sign a merger and business combination agreement (BCA) with Nasdaq-listed Lake Superior Acquisition Company (NASDAQ: LKSPU), and grow its market footprint in Asia and the United States.

Dan Jowett, CEO Openmarkets Group, said the acquisition represents OMG’s next step toward establishing a global client base.

“Acquiring FXE is about expanding our breadth of market infrastructure and financial services, cementing Openmarkets as Australia’s leader in wealth and markets technology. It will enable a large audience of highly engaged trading customers to access market education across a range of asset classes.”

“Looking ahead, OMG has strong appetite to expand the products, services and capabilities we offer, and we’re achieving this both by organic means and through further corporate activity.”

FXE founder and Investment Manager Tyrone Abela said its diverse and global members will benefit from the transaction.

“Joining OMG begins a natural next chapter for FXE after 14 years directing the business. Our members will continue to enjoy the same high-quality content based on technical and fundamental analysis, and they’ll benefit through our access to greater resourcing and scaling opportunities so we can continue expanding our global reach.”

David Jenkins

Trading and wealth management fintech Openmarkets Group has announced the appointment of Mr David Jenkins as Chief Product and Technology Officer. The appointment is effective 30 March 2026.

A seasoned product and technology executive with 30 years of experience across fintech, capital markets, and digital assets, David brings deep expertise in building and scaling financial technology platforms at the intersection of traditional and decentralised finance.

Mr Jenkins has held senior executive roles with leading financial services organisations including Pepperstone Group, Liquidnet, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and Fidessa, spanning Australia, Hong Kong, London, and New York.

He has direct experience in digital asset markets, having been responsible for the initiation of a global crypto exchange solution during his tenure as Chief Technology Officer at Pepperstone Group. Mr Jenkins has also held the position of Fractional Chief Technology Officer and Product Lead, at the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre backed company, ImpactX Markets.

As Chief Product and Technology Officer of Openmarkets Group, Mr Jenkins will be responsible for leading the group’s product, engineering, data, and technology functions as the business accelerates its decentralised finance strategy through crypto trading and Real-World Assets (RWAs) tokenisation. The strategy also includes expansion of its products and services into international markets.

Dan Jowett, CEO of Openmarkets, said Mr Jenkins’ digital asset experience and product leadership would be critical to delivering the group’s DeFi ambitions.

“We’re pleased to welcome David at a pivotal time for Openmarkets as we execute on our DeFi strategy and capitalise on growing demand for products that bridge decentralised and traditional finance. David has a track record of execution having built and scaled financial technology platforms at the highest level,” said Mr Jowett.

David Jenkins said he is excited by the opportunity to help Openmarkets execute on its DeFi strategy.

“I’m delighted to join Openmarkets at a truly exciting time for the business. I’m looking forward to leading the technology and product function and helping the group deliver on its ambition to bridge the established wealth and trading infrastructure that the industry relies on and the decentralised finance products that are reshaping it,” he said.

Dan Jowett

Trading and wealth management fintech Openmarkets Group has announced it has been appointed by Australian firm BW Equities to deploy a tailored wealth and trading technology solution that will support BW Equities’ business.

Founded in 2011, BW Equities is a leading Australian corporate and investment advisory firm headquartered in Melbourne. BW Equities’ experienced corporate finance team provide independent advice to corporate clients in the natural resources, industrial and technology sectors. The firm specialises in managing capital raising activities, initial public offerings (IPOs), and transactions for listed companies. BW Equities also offers independent in-house research, as well as sales and trading services to professional and institutional investors.

Under the multi-year agreement, Openmarkets is deploying a technology solution consisting of wealth management SaaS as well as trading and execution capabilities for domestic and international equities. In addition to increasing BW Equities’ overall capabilities, Openmarkets’ solutions are expected to drive efficiencies and reduce administrative burden for its advisers and staff. The execution solution has already gone live.

Dan Jowett, CEO of Openmarkets, said the group was delighted to welcome BW Equities as a new key client.

“We’re proud to be supporting BW, a well-known corporate advisory name in the Australian capital markets, to strengthen its core offering to clients in a changing local landscape and drive adviser efficiencies across the firm. This partnership highlights the value Openmarkets offers in its market-leading product suite, technical expertise, and compliance,” said Mr Jowett.

Rory Luff, Co-Founder and Executive Director of BW Equities, says the firm will greatly benefit from Openmarkets’ technology solution.

“Openmarkets’ wealth and tech solutions will provide new ways to bring value to our clients in a rapidly changing environment. This is a partnership is a win-win for us and our clients – it will ultimately support better client outcomes, more services we can offer, and time efficiencies,” said Mr Luff.

Dan Jowett

Trading and Wealth Management technology provider Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd (“Openmarkets”), has entered into a plan of merger and business combination agreement (“BCA”) with Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. (“Lake Superior”), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (NASDAQ: LKSPU). Upon completion, the transaction contemplated under the BCA will result in the newly combined Openmarkets Group becoming a Nasdaq-listed company.

The transaction is expected to be completed in 2026 and is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and customary closing conditions. The terms of the transaction represent an estimated enterprise value for Openmarkets of USD$300 million (not including the earn-out shares issuable pursuant to the BCA).

The transaction coincides with the launch of Openmarkets’ strategy to expand into decentralised finance (“DeFi”) through cryptocurrency trading and Real-World Assets (“RWAs”) tokenisation, as well as offering its technology and services internationally.

Openmarkets’ digital assets strategy will initially focus on offering secure and compliant fractionalisation of real-world assets such as funds, real estate, private equity and private credit, as well as integrating of cryptocurrency trading into its existing trading technology platform. To enable a DeFi offering, Openmarkets has commenced building a unique ecosystem of local and global partnerships and reviewing its regulatory authorisations.

Dan Jowett, CEO of Openmarkets Group, says the transaction will enable Openmarkets to accelerate its growth plans.

“This transaction will provide a myriad of benefits to Openmarkets as we pursue our open finance strategy, opening up new sources of capital and onboarding new, strategically-aligned investors whilst giving Openmarkets a US market presence.”

“Tomorrow’s capital markets will be defined by the convergence of traditional and decentralised finance, and there’s enormous commercial potential for trusted fintechs to invest in compliant and secure infrastructure solutions that bring tokenised assets into our traditional financial system. Openmarkets is ready to deliver on this opportunity.”Says Edward Cong Wang, CEO and Chairman of Lake Superior Acquisition Corp, “The combination with Openmarkets is the culmination of an exhaustive search for a market leader poised for explosive global growth. Through this transaction, we are providing the public market platform necessary for them to accelerate their expansion into new geographies and further their ambition to build the future of open finance through DeFi.”.

Lake Superior Acquisition Corp is a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger or business combination with one or more businesses. As part of the transaction, Openmarkets Group will retain its current management team and business structure.

Michael Crawford

Trading and wealth management fintech Openmarkets Group has announced the appointment of Mr Michael Crawford as Chief Financial Officer. The appointment is effective 21^st January 2026.

An accomplished financial leader with three decades of experience in banking, fintech, and markets, Michael brings a deep understanding of financial management including strategic planning, risk management, regulatory compliance, and financial reporting. Mr Crawford previously served in executive finance roles with high profile listed and unlisted companies including digital platform Mynted, AMP Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Group.

As Chief Financial Officer of Openmarkets, Mr Crawford will be responsible for fiscal management and reporting across the group, leading the finance function at a critical time of product growth and expansion for the business. Mr Crawford will play a key role in the group’s new strategy which involves expansion into decentralised finance through crypto trading and Real-World Assets (RWAs) tokenisation, offering its products and services internationally, as well as other acquisitions and planned corporate activities.

Dan Jowett, CEO of Openmarkets, said Mr Crawford’s financial services and leadership expertise and will be invaluable to the group.

“We’re pleased to welcome Michael at a pivotal time for Openmarkets as we execute on our growth strategy and capitalise on growing demand for trading and wealth products across decentralised finance and traditional finance. Michael’s deep financial services experience and leadership capability will be crucial to our success as we pursue new products, new markets, and corporate activity,” said Mr Jowett.

Michael Crawford said he is thrilled to join Openmarkets’ executive team.

“I’m delighted to join Openmarkets, a financial services provider relied upon by leading fintech, wealth and advisory brands for its innovative trading and market insights solutions. I’m excited to lead the group’s finance function and contribute to the execution of the group’s strategy”, he said.

Dan Jowett

Trading and wealth fintech Openmarkets Group (OMG) today announces Australian boutique corporate advisory firm Rawson Lewis has joined Openmarkets Group following a strategic agreement signed by the parties that is now in effect.

This sees Rawson Lewis operate as a Corporate Authorised Representative of Openmarkets Group under Openmarkets Australia Limited’s Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).

Rawson Lewis is a boutique corporate advisory and equity capital markets specialist, established in 2019, which specialises in advising and structuring public capital markets transactions, including Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), rights issues and placements, as well as private capital raisings.

Rawson Lewis also advises clients on corporate activity including mergers and acquisitions, market takeovers, schemes of arrangement and management buyouts. The firm operates in the mining, biotech, financial, media, property and technology sectors.

Dan Jowett, CEO, Openmarkets Group, said the agreement will build on the existing relationship between the firms as Openmarkets looks to capitalise on the onshore and offshore equity capital markets opportunities that are presented to the Group.

“This strategic agreement brings many benefits, including the opportunity to offer clients of both firms an expanded set of capabilities and the potential for Openmarkets Group to work with Rawson Lewis for equity capital market transactions. We’re delighted to welcome Rawson Lewis to the Group. 

Nick Dacres-Mannings, Managing Director, Rawson Lewis said the two firms shared a close alignment in strategy and values.

“We’re proud to be joining the Openmarkets Group, a broker with strong technological capability, solid experience acting as broker in the sectors we operate in, as well as a deep values alignment. Our joint operations will ultimately enable greater outcomes for clients and investors.”

Hakan Ozyon

Trading and wealth fintech Openmarkets has been appointed by Australia’s leading Islamic finance provider, Hejaz Financial Services (Hejaz), to provide innovative trading and execution technology solutions that will power Hejaz’s shariah-compliant investing platform.

The platform, currently in development, will be supported by Openmarkets’ API-led market infrastructure technology, enabling its clients access to Australia’s first shariah-compliant ASX-listed ETFs, including the Hejaz Equities Fund (ASX: ISLM), the Hejaz Property Fund (ASX: HJZP), and its Hejaz Sukuk Fund (ASX: SKUK), the latter being comparable to a traditional bond ETF.

The platform’s arrival will be an important milestone for Australian Muslims, whose investments must be shariah-compliant, avoiding companies that partake in activities that are considered by Islam to be morally or socially injurious. As a result, these companies also meet stringent environmental, social, or governance (ESG) criteria, potentially broadening Hejaz’s market appeal to ethically-minded investors.

Dan Jowett, CEO of Openmarkets, said the business was proud to contribute to financial products that will create more options for Muslim investors across Australia.

“Openmarkets solutions will enable Hejaz to grow its footprint in Australia, giving Australia’s growing Muslim community more options and more choice as to where and how they invest their money,” Mr Jowett said.

Hakan Ozyon, CEO of Hejaz Financial Services, said Openmarkets’ innovative trading technology would enable it to expand its solutions.

“Hejaz is proud to deliver a fresh and compliant approach to investing for Australian Muslims, which make up nearly one million people. This partnership with Openmarkets will be critical as we expand our financial solutions to meet this community’s needs,” Mr Ozyon said.

Hejaz Financial Services is the nation’s leading provider of Islamic financial services, offering shariah-compliant managed funds, superannuation, equities trading, Halal ETFs, home loans, and Hayat protection. Hejaz currently has $1.3 billion in funds under management and advice, with a client base of more than 6,200.

Shariah-compliant investing avoids activities considered by Islam to be morally or socially injurious. This includes refraining from sectors such as alcohol, tobacco, media, pork manufacture, and gambling, and investments that generate revenue from interest.

Dan Jowett

Younger Australian equity investors have weathered a year of volatile economic conditions and tightening interest rates to outperform Generation X and Baby Boomers, with Gen Y and Z investors achieving median 12-month returns of 6.15 per cent at 30 June 2023. By contrast, Gen X returns were 5.6 per cent and Baby Boomers were 5.06 per cent.

According to an analysis of almost 100,000 sponsored accounts by trading and wealth fintech Openmarkets, Gen Y and Z investors achieved these returns using a largely buy-and-hold strategy, a consistently defensive trading style, and a greater focus on the small cap end of the market.

The latest quarterly data also reveals that Gen Y and Z were the only cohort in Q2 to increase their trading volumes during the period with a 25 per cent quarterly increase to 13 annual trades. Baby Boomers continue to have the highest number of annual trades, with 26 per year on average.

All generations in Q2 continued to slowly reduce diversity in their portfolios, with the mean portfolio size of Baby Boomers now at 6.9 stocks, Gen X at 4.7 stocks and Gen Y and X at 4.4 stocks.

Other key findings include:

• Listed investment companies (LICs) saw strong net buying from Gen Y and Z throughout Q2 and the financial year. In the 12-months to 30 June, Australian Foundation Investment Company (AFIC) and Argo were among the most bought stocks.
• 85 per cent of Gen X’s trading volumes were large cap ASX stocks, whereas 84 per cent of Gen Y and Z trading volumes were small cap stocks.
• Baby Boomers had the greatest risk appetite in Q2 2023 with an investor defensiveness rating of 9.5 (offensive). By contrast, all other generations were defensive, with Gen Y and Z rating at -1.8 and Gen X rating at -4.9.

Openmarkets CEO Dan Jowett says Gen Y and Z are balancing a defensive buy-and-hold approach with a greater focus on small caps to outperform older generations.

“Despite having the lowest portfolio diversity of all generations, younger Australians have achieved higher returns by balancing exposure to small cap growth stocks with larger low-risk assets like banks and Listed Investment Companies to manage overall risk. We are pleased to see this younger cohort taking a balanced approach.”

“Listed Investment Companies have returned to popularity in the past twelve months, with many younger investors taking advantage of low LIC share prices, many of which have recently traded at a discount to asset book value.”

Dan Jowett

According to the inaugural analysis of over 300,000 sponsored accounts by trading and wealth fintech Openmarkets, 64% of trades by Generation Y and Z in Q1 2023 were buys, outpacing Generation X with 61% and Baby Boomers with 54%.

In addition to strong buying, the data also reveals younger Australians are trading less frequently than older generations, with an average of 10.7 annual trades compared with 16.3 trades for Generation X and 27.3 trades for Baby Boomers.

All generations over the past year reduced diversity in their portfolio, with young Australians holding 4.5 equities, Gen X Australians holding 6.1 equities and Baby Boomers holding 9.1 equities on average. Over the past year, Gen Y and Z Australians have reduced their equity holdings by 6.7 per cent and ETF holdings by 3.3 per cent.

Other key findings include:

• Generation Y and Z are trading small caps most often, with lithium stocks seeing most buying activity.
• The most bought stock for Gen Y and Z in Q1 2023 was lithium company Pilbara Minerals, followed by coal miner Stanmore Resources and lithium company Core Lithium Ltd.
• Younger generations’ interest in Exchange traded funds (ETFs) climbed in Q1 2023 from 27 per cent to 29 per cent of total trades. Of all ETF holders, 40 per cent had Australian exposure, 11 per cent had US exposure and 43 per cent had exposure in other developed markets.
• Generation X and Baby Boomers traded large cap equities far more frequently, with a strong focus on the banking sector. These trends were not seen in Generation Y and Z.

Openmarkets CEO Dan Jowett says Generation Y and Z’s buy-and-hold mentality shown here challenges stereotypes of this generation in following ‘hype’ and higher-risk strategies.

“In an era where young people are often associated with ‘hype’ stocks, finfluencers and short-term wins, it is interesting to see this is not necessarily reality. Our data shows younger Australians are trading less, sticking to stocks they know and gradually accumulating them to build long-term wealth.

“What also stands out for all generations, is that portfolios are becoming marginally less diverse, adding risk as market volatility continues. All investors should understand the impact of risk and volatility on portfolios as they consider short and long-term goals.”