Greg Cook

Multidisciplinary financial advice business, Eureka Whittaker Macnaught, has announced plans to become a super firm, with the imminent completion of three new acquisitions to boost the group’s annual revenue to $25 million and team members to 90 including 27 financial advisers, across eight locations.

This month, Eureka Whittaker Macnaught will acquire MSI Taylor Wealth Management, led by partners Peter O’Callaghan and Daniel Shine; Financial Design, led by principal Helen Postle; and Your Wealthy Life, led by Megan Neale.

The group’s latest acquisitions followed mergers with MTP Financial in Cairns in November and Wealthmed on the Sunshine Coast earlier this year.

Greg Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Eureka Whittaker Macnaught said the group’s latest transactions would deliver scale and efficiency benefits, and expanded its capabilities and capacity.

“Scale is increasingly important in financial advice not only to achieve operational and cost benefits but to increase our ability to meet the growing public demand for professional advice,” he said.

“We are pursuing a super firm strategy and on this journey we’ve been able to expand our client value proposition, provide career development opportunities for team members, and free up advisers to spend more time in front of clients.”

Over the past few years, Eureka Whittaker Macnaught has bought a number of professional services inhouse including accounting, mortgage broking and aged care advice.

Your Wealthy Life’s Neale said the backing of a business with a large, capable team and strong reputation attracted her to Eureka Whittaker Macnaught.

“Running solo is rewarding, however, I could see the benefits of joining a bigger business and the stability that comes with that,” she said.

“My clients now have access to a broader range of services and expertise, and they can feel confident that their advice journey will continue seamlessly even if I take some time off.”

Financial Design’s Postle added that partnering with Eureka Whittaker Macnaught would enable her to focus more on seeing clients and less on the operational aspects of running a business.

“Not only will I be able to spend more time seeing clients, but I’ll also have more time to spend mentoring team members, as I divest myself from the duties of running a business,” she said.

Anthony Menico, partner and financial adviser at MTP Financial, said the merger of MTP and Eureka Whittaker Macnaught delivered efficiency benefits and cost synergies.

“This merger benefits us all in achieving better future outcomes for clients and employees alike,” he said.

Looking ahead, Cook said the group would sharpen its focus on opportunities to grow through M&A in New South Wales and other states. “

Around three quarters of our business is in Queensland and the remaining quarter is New South Wales but we see plenty of opportunities in New South Wales and other states and we are keen to partner with other advice businesses to continue growing and serving more clients,” he said.

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Greg Cook

Professional advisory firms, Eureka Whittaker Macnaught (EWM) and Foster Raffan iPlan, have merged to form a large, multi-disciplinary firm with 44 employees including 20 financial advisers, serving 2,500 engaged clients, across six locations in New South Wales and Queensland.

The merger is EWM’s third transaction in 12 months, signaling the group’s intention to continue growing, and expanding its capability and capacity, through both M&A and organic activity.

In 2024, EWM also merged with financial planning firms, Blue Harbour Financial Partners and Logiro.

Based in North Sydney, Foster Raffan iPlan is led by Daniel Molesworth and Robert Wood.

Greg Cook, EWM Chief Executive Officer, said the recent mergers had already delivered some scale benefits, including operational and cost efficiencies, which would only increase and accelerate over time.

“We are focused on reducing our cost to serve and we are starting to see some improvements but we’ve had to work very hard and spend some money upfront, for example on getting our technology right, to bank ongoing savings,” Cook said.

“It takes some time for the benefits of M&A to flow through but they are starting to emerge and will only increase from here. We have a strong balance sheet to assist us in our move from financial planning to wealth management, adding services like mortgage broking. We are also growing our partnerships with industry funds.”

He said the group’s heightened M&A activity in the past year reflected its ambitions to build a Super firm that could deliver quality advice to more Australians.

“As an aspiring national firm, EWM is strongly positioned to innovate and provide different advice propositions, including a lower cost service, to make advice more affordable and accessible” Cook said.

According to Daniel Molesworth, Co-founder and Senior Financial Planner, Foster Raffan iPlan, the deal enables employees and clients to tap into the benefits of being part of a larger entity including a corporatised structure, dedicated management team, and a broad range of specialist capabilities including aged care, estate planning and life insurance advice.

“As a small business, Rob and I do a bit of everything. We run the business, manage teams and see clients. We provide advice to both mass affluent and high net worth clients in a range of areas including superannuation, investments, retirement planning, aged care and life insurance,” he said.

“Through this merger, our clients can access inhouse specialists who focus on areas like aged care and life insurance all day, every day, which will also release Rob and I to focus on our strengths.”

Both EWM and Foster Raffan iPlan are part of professional advisory group, AZ NGA.

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Greg Cook

Financial advice businesses, Eureka Whittaker Macnaught (EWM) and Blue Harbour Financial Partners (Blue Harbour) will merge in a move designed to deliver scale and efficiency benefits, career opportunities for employees, and a strengthened value proposition for clients.

With a rich history dating back to the 1960s, EWM has offices in Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle and Brisbane, and provides holistic goals-based advice. It recently expanded its offer to include finance and mortgage broking.

Established in 2002, Blue Harbour Financial Partners is based at Cleveland in Brisbane and specialises in superannuation, retirement and estate planning.

Together, the combined entity will employ 32 people including 14 financial advisers, across five locations. This includes its fifth Professional Year candidate. It will continue to trade under both EWM and Blue Harbour in the short term.

According to Greg Cook, co-founder and Chief Executive of EWM, the deal unites two high quality, like-minded businesses of comparable size to form a large, integrated firm with significant scale, capability and capacity.

The combined entity will have one management team, under the leadership of Cook and General Manager Sally Bell, with a clear vision to build a strong professional services super firm.

“I’m very excited about our future. Our mission is to be our clients’ trusted adviser and the ringmaster of their financial affairs, which is a key driver behind our growth strategy and recent decision to establish a mortgage and lending business,” Cook said.

“We also have great capability with self-managed super and aged care advice, and we have great advice relationships with industry superannuation.”

Todd Hitchcock, Chief Executive of Blue Harbour, said the group’s merger with EWM would deliver many benefits to employees, advisers and clients including a stable, experienced management team.

“I’ll still be involved in the business and I’m always thinking about the future to ensure that the business will be around for a long time to serve our people and our clients,” Hitchcock said.

Cook added: “EWM has experienced strong growth, both organically and through M&A, and we have ambitious plans to become a formidable, multi-disciplinary super firm”.

EWM and Blue Harbour are both part of the AZ NGA group.

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Greg Cook

Leading financial planning firm, Eureka Whittaker Macnaught, has acquired Warren McHattan’s financial planning practice at Parramatta in Sydney’s greater west. Both businesses are licensed through Financial Wisdom Limited, and this adds a fourth office to the growing Eureka Whittaker Macnaught business.

Eureka Whittaker Macnaught Chief Executive, Greg Cook, said he is delighted with the acquisition. “Our strategic plan is called ‘EWM 4.0’. We have thought about the advice business we would design if we were a 2019 start-up and we are on schedule to evolve Eureka Whitaker Macnaught to that model by December 2020. This adds to other changes we have made, such as moving to flat client fees in 2016. We are looking forward to making our Parramatta office a part of all that.”

Eureka Whittaker Macnaught has an enviable reputation in the profession, evidenced by another ‘podium finish’ in the Financial Planning Association (FPA)’s 2018 Professional Practice of the Year awards.

“Our strong balance sheet allows us to make these acquisitions with little risk, and practice principals like Warren know our acquisition process will be very professional, their clients will be in great hands, and their legacy respected,” Mr Cook said.

Eureka Whittaker Macnaught looks at numerous acquisition opportunities and Mr Cook said there are plenty to consider given the current FASEA-based generational change. “Warren’s business is a great fit for us, and we believe we can roll out a wider value proposition to its clientele. Warren and I have known each other for 27 years. As with getting advice, it’s great to deal with someone you know and trust.”

Warren’s support staff will join Eureka Whittaker Macnaught and over the next 18 months Warren will be introducing clients to the advice team at Eureka Whittaker Macnaught. “At the end of that period, after more than 30 years in the profession, Warren is looking forward to enjoying an active, long and well-deserved retirement,” Mr Cook said. “As a Parramatta Eels fan, I’m extra excited – I can walk to my BankWest Stadium Eels games from that office.”

Eureka Whittaker Macnaught offers Australian consumers financial advice across a range of speciality areas for every stage of the life cycle, including investment strategies, aged care advice, SMSF services and life risk services, to people who are just starting out on the journey towards wealth accumulation, right through to people who are retired.

The group has 10  financial planners in a team of 25 employees. Now with offices in Brisbane, the NSW Central Coast, Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, the business functions as a financial services hub, with strong connections to mortgage brokers, accountants and lawyers.

“This approach allows the business to take care of the complete financial needs of all our clients, while also providing opportunities for business clients to partner with industry professionals in a business capacity,” Mr Cook said.

In 2013, Eureka merged with Whittaker Macnaught and in 2015 became the founding Australian firm of AZ Next Generation Advisory.

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Greg Cook

Eureka Financial Group (Eureka) will more than double in size following their successful acquisition of assets from the highly-respected Queensland financial planning group Whittaker Macnaught.

 As one of the biggest wealth management groups under the Commonwealth Bank-backed Financial Wisdom banner and winner of the 2011 Financial Wisdom Practice of the Year, Eureka will now be known as Eureka Whittaker Macnaught.

Greg Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Eureka Whittaker Macnaught, said, “Whittaker Macnaught is one of the most prestigious names in wealth management and we are delighted to continue their heritage by renaming our business.”

Whittaker Macnaught was one of the first dedicated financial planning businesses established in Queensland.

“We look forward to providing our existing and Whittaker Macnaught clients with excellent financial planning solutions under our new brand. This doubles the scale of our business and is a big step in our plans for a national footprint,” Mr Cook said.

Industry veteran and co-founder of Whittaker Macnaught, Noel Whittaker, has been appointed as Ambassador for Eureka Whittaker Macnaught and will attend upcoming events to mark the founding of the new business.

“I have worked closely with Greg Cook and Eureka for the past three years and I am very pleased to see that his respected firm is now taking care of Whittaker Macnaught clients,” Mr Whittaker said.  “I know the clients will be in good hands.”

 With a heritage dating back to 1993, Eureka is a leading, multi-award-winning practice operating under the Financial Wisdom Limited licence. The practice is privately owned by directors Greg Cook and Andrew Jones.

Whittaker Macnaught, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), has been Queensland’s trusted name in financial advice for over 30 years and was one of Australia’s longest running financial advice businesses, with planners operating in offices right across Queensland.

Mr Cook, who will be moving to Queensland to head up the new combined business said Eureka Whittaker Macnaught will be working hard to ensure a smooth transition for all concerned.

“We will be working with transition teams from Whittaker Macnaught, Financial Wisdom and CBA to help the process run smoothly,” he said.

Mr Cook said Eureka Whittaker Macnaught will be expanding its team to include some familiar Whittaker Macnaught faces who will add a great depth of experience, technical ability and client insight.

“We’ve already got a team on the ground in Queensland, most of whom were long term Whittaker Macnaught employees,” he said.“We are very much looking forward to working with them.”

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