John Shuttleworth

Centrepoint Alliance enters agreements to acquire Cairns Wealth and Pinnacle Wealth client books Centrepoint Alliance Limited (ASX: CAF) (“Centrepoint” or “the Company”), a leading provider of advice and business services to financial advice firms and customers throughout Australia, is pleased to announce that it has entered into agreements to acquire the client books and servicing employed advisers of Cairns Wealth and Pinnacle Wealth (together, the “Acquisitions”), further expanding its salaried advice business and supporting the growth of high-quality, recurring earnings.

Both practices operate within the Astute Financial Management Pty Ltd (“Astute”) network, and the transactions further strengthen Centrepoint’s strategic B2B alliance with Astute, a key referral and distribution partner. The Acquisitions reinforce Centrepoint’s disciplined capital deployment framework, targeting high-quality, recurring earnings streams, aligned operating models and strong adviser retention characteristics.

Strategic rationale

• Expanded Queensland distribution footprint: The acquisition of Cairns Wealth establishes Centrepoint’s presence in all major regional centres across Queensland, further strengthening its national advice network.
• Strengthening strategic partnership with Astute: Both practices operate within the Astute network, continuing to deepen Centrepoint’s strategic alignment and referral pathways with Astute.
• Scalable integration model: Cairns Wealth advisers will operate from Astute premises in Cairns, and Pinnacle Wealth advisers will be integrated into Centrepoint’s Brisbane office.
• Earnings quality: The Acquisitions are underpinned by established recurring earnings and current adviser productivity, with retention structures designed to support continuity of earnings.

Funding

Centrepoint confirms that National Australia Bank (“NAB”) has approved a new acquisition facility of $10 million with a five-year term. This facility provides flexibility to fund the Acquisitions and supports the Company’s ongoing M&A strategy.

Integration and operating model

Both Acquisitions are structured as complementary transactions with limited integration complexity. Advisers will transition on to Centrepoint employment arrangements.

Centrepoint Alliance Chief Executive Officer, John Shuttleworth said: “These acquisitions represent attractive strategic opportunities aligned with our disciplined capital deployment framework. Importantly, they strengthen our partnership with Astute, complete our Queensland regional footprint and are expected to deliver high-quality, recurring earnings and immediate earnings contribution.

We remain focused on executing our growth strategy through acquisitions, adviser recruitment and expansion of our platform and investments businesses.”

Timing

Completion of these transactions is expected by 1 July 2026 and is subject to execution of all associated documents and standard regulatory and operational transition processes, including the advisers joining Centrepoint.

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Tim Neville

Centrepoint Alliance, a leading provider of advice and business services to financial advice firms throughout Australia, and FNZ, a leading global wealth management platform, have announced the launch of a new investment platform, IconiQ. The platform is designed to empower financial advisers in managing their clients’ investments with ease and efficiency, developed on FNZ’s globally leading wealth management technology.

IconiQ comprises two solutions: IconiQ Investment and Super Wrap. The Investment wrap is a comprehensive investment account designed to cater to a diverse range of financial needs, providing access to a vast array of investment options consolidated under an easy-to-navigate, intuitive user interface.

Super Wrap, the IconiQ Superannuation Platform, offers end-to-end superannuation experience for advisers and their clients with accumulation, transition to retirement and pension, empowering financial advisers to manage portfolios within a simple, low cost and easy to understand interface.

IconiQ will provide advisers with:

• Rich user experience and functionality: Features and functionality for enhanced portfolio management across investments and superannuation.
• Digital-first tools: Prioritising efficiency alongside human touch for a seamless experience with streamlined workflows, real-time analytics, and intuitive dashboards.
• Access to quality managers: Access to leading Australian and global investment managers.
• Competitive pricing: Simple pricing structure with flat administration fees, aggregated pricing for families and related parties, and no minimum or standing costs.

The partnership with FNZ reflects Centrepoint Alliance’s commitment to an open architecture model and provides access to global scale, support, and ongoing development to deliver the best adviser and customer experience.

With more than 1,300 advisers, Centrepoint is one of Australia’s largest providers of licensee services for financial advisers. The launch of IconiQ therefore presents a significant opportunity to tap into Australia’s c. $1.1 trillion platform market, and demonstrates FNZ’s expanding presence in Australia, where around 500 colleagues are based across offices in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

John Shuttleworth, Centrepoint Alliance, Chief Executive Officer, said: “In developing IconiQ, we have ensured that advisers have access to one of the highest quality investment management and portfolio administration solutions at highly competitive prices. As an ‘open architecture’ solution provider, we are committed to providing a choice of platforms and investment managers. We strive to ensure that clients achieve the best after-fee returns without paying excessive fees for portfolio administration. Leveraging our scale and expertise, we are proud to offer a globally leading platform solution.”

Tim Neville, CEO Asia Pacific, FNZ said: “FNZ is delighted to have delivered the IconiQ platform in partnership with Centrepoint. IconiQ is a state-of-the-art platform which will empower advisors with the tools and capabilities they need to grow and deliver for their clients. FNZ is proud to partner with Centrepoint to bring this innovative product to market and continue to drive personalised and efficient investment solutions across the wealth management sector in Australia.”

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John Shuttleworth

Centrepoint Alliance Limited (ASX: CAF) (“Centrepoint” or “the Company”), a leading provider of advice and business services to financial advice firms throughout Australia, is pleased to provide the Company’s Interim Financial Report and Appendix 4D for the six months ended 31 December 2023.

H1 FY24 Financial Highlights

• Strong financial performance, achieving normalised EBITDA (excluding LTI awards, one-off costs and asset sales) of $4.1m, up 11% (+$0.4m) from H1 FY23 driven by a robust mix of organic growth and recent acquisition of Financial Advice Matters Group Pty Ltd (FAM) completed on 1 December 2023
• Interim fully franked ordinary dividend of 1.0c declared on 23 February 2024 with a payment date of 18 March 2024
• Gross revenue increased by $6.3m (+4.7% on PCP)
• Management expenses flat on PCP (down 2.4% on PCP excluding FAM acquisition). Cost to income at 75% improved over PCP due to gross profit increase
• Cash of $12.4m, down $3.2m from June 2023 primarily driven by $3.7m net cash flow from operations and $4m loan borrowings offset by $7.6m paid for FAM acquisition and $4m in dividends paid out
• Gross profit up 2.5% (+$0.4m) on PCP primarily through revenue uplift from $0.6m organic licenced fee growth, $0.5m FAM acquisition offsetting $0.4m platform margin cessation
• PBT of $2.4m down $1.3m on PCP primarily due to a one-off $1.6m Asset Sales (Ventura) in PCP. Normalising for PCP Asset Sales, H1 FY24 PBT increased by $0.3m driven by gross profit increase

H1 FY24 Operational Highlights

• The market conditions for advice remain strong with significant demand for advice services, strong equity markets and easing of regulation through a series of reforms arising from the Quality of Advice Review.
• The Group’s total number of advisers is now 1,338 advisers made up of 518 licenced advisers (net growth of +7 over the half) and 206 self-licenced firms (net growth of +10 over the half) representing 820 advisers. This performance is strong relative to peers with only three other licensees (with more than 100 authorised representatives), recording positive growth.
• The recruitment pipelines across the licenced and self-licenced business lines are strong largely driven by the disruption caused by licensee consolidation. Opportunities to recruit advisers will continue to materialise due to disruption in the market.
• The Groups commitment to service excellence is reflected in the Net Promotor Score (NPS), which has increased from +13 in August 2022 to +39 by November 2023. NPS operates on a scale from -100 to +100, with scores above 0 indicating positive sentiment and scores above +50 considered exceptional.

H1 FY24 Acquisition

• The acquisition of FAM was completed on 1 December 2023. FAM is a Queensland-based financial planning group operating in eight locations, providing advice to over 1,550 household clients, with funds under advice in excess of $1 billion. The acquisition is strategically important, creating operating scale in the important higher margin salaried advice segment, with 15 advisers joining the Group creating a national presence of 19 advisers.

Strategic initiatives

• Growing our asset management business is a key strategic priority. A new range of managed accounts, the iQ Portfolios was launched on Macquarie Wrap in December 2023. These portfolios will be progressively launched across other partner platforms. The iQ Portfolios complement the existing range of managed accounts available through Colonial First State FirstChoice.
• CAF and FNZ have entered into a partnership to launch a new platform under the IconiQ brand name. FNZ are a global leader in platform technology with over $2 trillion in funds under administration across with 650 client implementations across 30 countries. Scheduled to launch in Q3 of calendar year 2024, the service will consist of an Investor Directed Portfolio Service and a Superannuation platform. The offer will be competitively priced with no minimum fee, account aggregation and capped fee structure. The new offer will complement the twelve partner platforms available on the approved product list reinforcing CAF’s position as a research driven open architecture provider of platforms and investment solutions.

Centrepoint Chair, Georg Chmiel, said: “As the newly appointed Chair, I am proud to be part of a company that plays such an important role in providing essential services to the financial advice industry. Our executive team has consistently delivered strong results, benefiting from acquisitions, organic adviser growth, and disciplined cost management. The business is well placed with our strong community of advisers providing scale. I am confident, our pipeline of strategic initiatives will deliver future growth as we continue to build our powerful wealth platform.”

Centrepoint CEO, John Shuttleworth, said: “Centrepoint Alliance is at an incredibly exciting phase of its development. The business has significant scale thanks to the trust placed in us by the 1,338 advisers we service. With the current dislocation in the market, we are seeing significant opportunity as advisers look for a licensee they can trust to help them with the services they need to manage their business. The recent acquisition of FAM is an important step to build a larger profitable salaried advice business complementing our licensee services. The pending launch of the IconiQ Platform and iQ portfolios launched in December will further expand the services we can offer our community of advisers”.

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John Shuttleworth

Centrepoint Alliance Limited (ASX: CAF) (“Centrepoint Alliance” or “CAF”), a leading provider of business services to financial advice firms throughout Australia, is pleased to announce it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% ownership of Brisbane based financial advice firm Financial Advice Matters Group Pty Ltd (“FAM”).

FAM offers clients a full range of financial planning and advice services to approximately 1,450 client households with Funds Under Advice (“FUA”) in excess of $1 billion. FAM operates 8 offices throughout Queensland and generated revenue of $6.1m in FY23.

FAM became a corporate authorised representative of CAF subsidiary Alliance Wealth, in 2015. Since then, FAM has grown considerably and has been a strong contributor to the Centrepoint Alliance community. The acquisition of FAM will add significant revenue to CAF, boost CAF’s team of salaried financial advisers to 19, and create a financial advice group with the scale to further expand in other locations.

Key transaction details:

• FAM revenue approximately $6.1m in FY23
• Full year EBIT contribution to CAF in the range of $1.1m to $1.5m in first twelve months of operations
• Total potential consideration of $10m cash funded from CAF’s existing cash reserves and newly established $10m debt facility with National Australia Bank
• 80% of consideration paid upfront and remaining 20% subject to deferred incentives and performance hurdles over a 12-month period based on a minimum EBIT contribution of $1.5m
• Completion expected by 1 December 2023 (subject to fulfilment of closing conditions)

Commenting on the acquisition of FAM, Centrepoint Alliance’s Chief Executive Officer John Shuttleworth said: “I am delighted by the opportunity this acquisition offers Centrepoint Alliance. It fits with our strategy to accelerate growth by executing targeted acquisitions of high-quality businesses aligned to our strategic framework. The FAM Team have a proven track record helping many Australians by providing quality financial advice. FAM is a corporatised advice firm with a strong cultural fit with our existing network of financial advisers and has the business systems, processes and operating scale to provide a platform for further expansion of this important segment of the market.”

Darren Smith, Managing Director of Financial Advice Matters Group, commented: “This is an exciting development and reflects the realisation of our vision since joining the Centrepoint group back in 2015 as a corporate authorised representative. Over the last 8 years we have worked closely with the Centrepoint group and there is strong cultural alignment and mutual respect. The group recognises the cultural strength of what has been built up under the Financial Advice Matters brand and is looking to use it as a platform for further growth.”

The release of this announcement has been authorised by the Board of Directors. Further information on the acquisition of FAM will be provided at CAF’s Annual General meeting to be held on Friday, 10th November 2023.

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John Shuttleworth

Leading provider of advice and business services to financial advice firms, Centrepoint Alliance Limited has announced strong growth during FY21, including a net profit after tax of $1.8m and 6% growth in gross revenue.  The company also announced it has agreed to purchase financial advice businesses of ClearView Wealth Limited for $15.2 million.

Announcing its full year results Centrepoint Alliance said despite a challenging year for the advice industry which saw overall adviser numbers decline further, the group had continued boost its member base, amid increased demand for robust compliance and technology solutions.

Key FY21 highlights include:

• Net profit after tax of $1.8m, spurred by continued revenue growth in advice fees, diligent expense management and an expected run-off in legacy funds and administration.
• Gross revenue up by 6% from FY20 to $138m, driven by strong performance of the licensee solutions business and an increase in authorised representative fees.
• Expenses declined 15.7% from FY20 to $26.5m, reflecting management’s continued focus on cost reduction.
• An adviser base of 315 authorised representatives with strong levels of service satisfaction.
• Self-licensed firms increased by 16, including three new wholesale contracts, taking the total number to 149.  An additional 23 existing firms were transitioned to the new fee for service offer.
• Continued investment in technology to enhance the scalable service platform for advisers, with successful integration of Xplan service provider Enzumo following the June 2020 acquisition

John Shuttleworth, Centrepoint Alliance CEO said: “Centrepoint Alliance is proud to have delivered improvements in revenue and profitability throughout FY21 despite challenging trading conditions.

“When I joined Centrepoint Alliance earlier this month, I found a business that benefits from a very favourable position in a rapidly evolving advice industry, with competitive pricing and capabilities in both the licenced and self-licensed segments.”

Centrepoint Alliance also continued to execute on its strategic priority of offering market-leading technological solutions to advice firms throughout the financial year.

“We know that technology has a clear impact on the profitability and efficiency of our members’ businesses. In FY21 key initiatives included upgrading our CRM system to incorporate business intelligence tools and bedding down the acquisition of Enzumo to enhance our technology and data services,” Mr Shuttleworth said.

“We have also invested in delivering service at scale within our own business, which has resulted in high levels of member satisfaction. Today 93% of enquiries received are resolved within two days, with average turnaround time improving by 20%.”

Acquisition of ClearView Advice

Centrepoint Alliance also announced it will acquire the financial advice businesses of ClearView which include the ClearView Financial Advice Pty Ltd and Matrix Planning Solutions Ltd, and LaVista Licensee Solutions Pty Ltd.

The purchase will be financed by the issue $12.0 million in escrowed CAF shares and a cash consideration of $3.2 million. As a result, ClearView Wealth Limited will become a substantial (25%) shareholder in Centrepoint Alliance.

“This transaction represents the next phase of Centrepoint Alliance’s growth by providing immediate scale and will increase the business’s long-term value and profitability,’ said Mr Shuttleworth.

Well positioned for continued market disruption

Looking forward, Mr Shuttleworth said while continued disruption in the advice sector is expected, Centrepoint Alliance is well positioned to take advantage and will focus on growing its range of licensee solutions to build greater scale and profitability, further investing in technology, and enhancing its portfolio implementation solutions with the goal of keeping costs low.

“We enter FY22 with a positive outlook for growth and look forward to providing quality business services and support to a broader range of financial advice professionals in the year ahead,” Mr Shuttleworth concluded.

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Mr Shuttleworth was previously General Manager of Platforms and Investments at BT Financial Group where he was responsible for $115bn in assets under administration and $40bn in funds under management. John led the development of BT Super for Life, Australia’s first low-cost superannuation product. He also initiated and ran a large-scale technology transformation for the wealth business, BT Panorama involving redefining the product, technology, and service architecture for BT.

Chairman Alan Fisher said “We are pleased to attract an executive of the calibre of John to lead the Company. Over the last three years Centrepoint Alliance has focused on building and strengthening our licensee services through a period of significant industry change. John will lead the Company through our next phase of growth as we focus on expanding our service offering and digitising key services.”

Mr Shuttleworth said “Having the opportunity to lead Centrepoint Alliance through the next phase of growth is a privilege. Over the last few months, I have had an opportunity to consult with the Board and Senior Executive Team. I have been impressed by the calibre and professionalism of Centrepoint Alliance executives and their passion for advice. Centrepoint Alliance has a great culture and is a Company with a strong foundation for growth.”

Centrepoint Alliance is the leading provider of advice and business services to financial advice firms throughout Australia. It offers a complete suite of governance, business management, client growth and advice services that enable advisers to spend more time providing advice to their clients.

In the 12 months to 30 June 2021, Centrepoint Alliance appointed more than 70 authorised representatives to its own Australian Financial Services Licenses. This is a record for the Company, ranking first amongst its peers for new advisers.

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John Shuttleworth

BT continues the rollout of its wealth operating system BT Panorama with the addition of four popular managers to the managed portfolio menu: Evans and Partners, UBS, Antares and Hyperion.

“Increasing the managed portfolio offer was always part of our plans to ensure investors have access to a wide range of quality investment managers,” said John Shuttleworth, general manager platforms and operations, BT Financial Group.

“We are committed to delivering a comprehensive solution so that investors, advisers and their clients are able to use one operating system to meet all their investment needs.

“Boosting the managed portfolio offering is important as we know advisers are increasingly using this investment vehicle as it provides expertise and diversification, while saving valuable time spent on administration – time that advisers can instead spend with their clients or generating new business,” said Mr Shuttleworth.

Managed funds were launched on Panorama in September, joining cash, term deposits, and managed portfolios in the investments stable.

“BT Panorama’s success is due to a powerful combination of advanced technology and customer-led design. These factors enable us to quickly adjust the system to adapt as the needs of our customer base changes, meaning we can provide an optimum user experience.

“It is a flexible and intuitive system that will transform the way people interact with and manage their money,” said Mr Shuttleworth.

Still to come in 2015 are BT Panorama’s self-managed super fund solution – a new way for advisers, clients and accountants to collaborate, and the introduction of ASX traded listed securities which will continue to strengthen BT Panorama’s investment offer.

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John Shuttleworth

BT Financial Group has launched a new mobile app that allows financial advisers to access Panorama anytime, anywhere.

With a user-friendly interface, the Panorama app allows advisers to view details of their business, including a summary of total funds under administration, active accounts, net flows and fees, as well as client account details such as total portfolio balances and transaction histories for BT Cash accounts.

Available on both Android and iOS devices, this update builds on the app’s existing capability for investors who can make deposits, pay bills, and view account balances via their mobile.

BTFG General Manager, Platforms and Operations Mr John Shuttleworth says the app was developed in consultation with advisers and in response to the demand for increased mobility in the way financial services are delivered.

“The busy nature of life these days means planners are demanding that technology providers make it easier for them to do business on-the-go. This means providing solutions that allow people to work effectively and efficiently in an agile setting.”

“Panorama’s new app provides easy access to important business and client information, enabling advisers to view a real-time snapshot of portfolios via their mobile device.”

Future releases will include more advanced portfolios management tools, additional asset classes and the automation of administrative processes.

“This is the next step in a series of enhancements to the app that will deliver increased functionality, and alleviate the administrative burden on advisers by digitising time-consuming manual processes,” Mr Shuttleworth concluded.

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John Shuttleworth

BT Financial Group (BTFG) has added managed funds to its powerful wealth operating system Panorama, providing advisers and their clients access to an impressive range of investment solutions.

This latest update will offer an open architecture menu with access to over 300 funds from over 70 managers across a range of diversified, sector, specialist and wholesale managed funds. Through the one, flexible wealth management system, advisers will now be able to buy and sell managed funds, invest in cash, term deposits and managed portfolios.

BT General Manager of Platforms and Operations Mr John Shuttleworth says Panorama will transform the way people control and interact with their wealth portfolio.

“The way we deliver wealth management solutions is changing. People want flexible, intuitive, comprehensive systems that allow them to view and manage a complete picture of their financial affairs all in one place. The cutting edge technology behind Panorama will allow advisers and investors to access, organise and interact with their wealth portfolio in a seamless manner.

“The introduction of managed funds builds on the success of previous releases, including managed portfolios, cash and term deposits, and is the next step in Panorama’s mission to transform the way advisers and clients view and manage their wealth portfolios.”

Other upcoming releases include the introduction of a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund solution and direct equities to allow individuals to trade on the ASX.

“This will provide advisers and their clients with a full investment platform while Panorama’s functional, intuitive and elegantly simple interface will make it easier for advisers to manage their client’s portfolios, increasing productivity and reducing the complexity of many of these processes,” said Mr Shuttleworth.

“As we continue to roll out new offerings, clients will have the increasing ability to see, access and transact across all their banking and wealth products, all in one place,” Mr Shuttleworth concluded.

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John Shuttleworth

Going live with the Avaloq Banking Suite on new BT Panorama Operating Platform creates new opportunities for Avaloq to enter the global wealth ‘Platform’ market.

The Avaloq group, an international leader in integrated and comprehensive solutions for wealth management, universal and retail banks, today announced that its first Australian customer has gone ‘live’ with its innovative Banking Suite software.

BT Financial Group, the wealth management arm of the Westpac Group, has successfully completed its first milestone in the implementation of the Avaloq Banking Suite. The new platformwill replace as many as seven heritage systems, and provide more than 13,000 BTFG users with the ability to manage a broad range of investments via a single application.

Avaloq is providing the core technologies to BT Financial Group’s new Panorama operating system, the first phase of which recently went live with the launch of the cash/term deposit component of the platform. The next deliverable, investment platform functionality, is currently being rolled out to the Panorama platform.

“The contribution of Avaloq to the first release of BT Financial Group’s Panorama operating system has been significant. We are looking forward to continuing this relationship as we roll out this important new phase in Australian financial services,” said John Shuttleworth, General Manager – Platforms and Operations at BT Financial Group.

“Going live with BT Financial Group is an important milestone in our expansion plans for the region. The progressive adaptation of the Avaloq Banking Suite to the Australian financial ‘Platform’ sector, positions us for local growth and other markets. We anticipate future interest from the UK and also the Asia Pacific region, where demand for these solutions continues to grow,” says Peter Scott, Avaloq Regional General Manager, Asia Pacific.

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