Tim Benson

US-backed capital partner, Merchant Wealth Partners has secured a strategic minority investment in Brisbane-based multidisciplinary financial services firm, Infinity Financial Consultants as it positions itself to play a more active role in the consolidation of Australia’s wealth management, accounting and lending sectors.

Merchant Wealth Partners is the local Australian arm of New York-based Merchant Investment Management, a global investor known for backing founder-led wealth and advisory firms pursuing long-term acquisition strategies.

The deal, which sees Merchant Wealth Partners take a non-controlling stake, provides Infinity Financial Consultants with access to permanent capital and transaction expertise as it looks to scale beyond its Queensland footprint through targeted mergers and acquisitions.

Infinity Financial Consultants operates across Brisbane, Cleveland and the Gold Coast, offering financial planning, accounting, lending and personal risk advice under a single multidisciplinary model. Like many mid-sized advice groups, it has benefited from industry consolidation pressures that are reshaping ownership structures across the sector.

Tim Benson, Group Managing Director of Infinity Financial Consultants, said the partnership reflected a deliberate decision to prepare the business for a more acquisitive phase of growth.

“Consolidation across advice and accounting is accelerating, particularly as succession challenges continue to build,” Benson said. “We didn’t want to be reactive. This partnership gives us the capital support and experience to approach M&A in a disciplined way.”

Infinity Financial Consultants was advised on the transaction by Berkshire Global Advisors, with Nelson Lam leading the engagement, while legal advice was provided by Mills Oakley partner Tim Cox.

Merchant is not structured as a private equity firm. It operates as an institutional operating company that deploys long-duration capital rather than investing against a fixed fund life. In Australia, its platform has centred on minority partnerships with advisory businesses that want to scale while preserving founder control and long-term autonomy.

Benson said the structure of the investment was critical. “This isn’t about flipping businesses or imposing short-term return pressures,” he said. “We were looking for a partner that understands how professional services firms grow over decades, not cycles.”

The partnership is expected to support Infinity Financial Consultants’ ambitions to acquire culturally aligned advice, accounting and lending firms, expand into new regions and provide succession pathways for smaller practices seeking an alternative to trade sales or internal buyouts.

The Infinity Financial Consultants multidisciplinary structure is expected to remain central to its acquisition strategy, with the group favouring firms that can be integrated into its existing advice, tax and lending platform rather than operating as stand-alone bolt-ons.

Merchant Wealth Partners global network includes more than 125 partner firms across six countries, collectively managing in excess of US$300 billion in assets. Its Australian arm has increasingly focused on firms seeking to professionalise their acquisition strategies as consolidation intensifies.

Benson said access to Merchant’s deal experience and post-transaction integration frameworks would be as valuable as the capital itself. “M&A only works if you integrate properly and protect client outcomes,” he said. “That’s where most consolidators stumble.”

While Infinity declined to comment on specific acquisition targets, the firm said it expects acquisitions to become a core growth driver over the coming years as it looks to build scale without compromising its client-first approach.

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The partnership, involving a minority equity purchase by Pinnacle, ushers in the next phase of growth for the $4 billion Melbourne-based boutique investment manager on the dawn of their 10-year anniversary.

Omega co-founders Andrew Gruskin and Mathew McCrum, together with the Omega team, will retain majority ownership and control of the business.

“We are thrilled to enter into this new phase of Omega’s growth that will be bolstered by our strategic partnership with Pinnacle which brings perfect alignment to our core values and culture” McCrum said.

“Pinnacle has one of the most proven distribution teams, providing a strong boost to Omega’s market profile and penetration, that will help us to use the breadth of our investment experience and capabilities to bring to market a greater range of products and services to new and existing clients. In addition to bolstering Omega’s distribution efforts, Pinnacle will provide strategic, commercial and governance input to the Omega management team,” he said.

“We are seeing strong investor demand for Omega’s smart beta strategies and portfolio solutions and this partnership will accelerate our ability to deliver on that demand. This strategic partnership with Pinnacle brings renewed energy to our business and creates longevity for staff and clients, while continuing to deliver our most important objective of producing outstanding outcomes for our clients.”

Pinnacle Managing Director Ian Macoun said, “We are excited to enter into a new strategic partnership with Omega at a time when factor based, smart beta investing is at a major positive inflection point. Omega will enhance our ability to bring multi-asset smart beta solutions to the market. Omega has a strong reputation for delivering high quality client solutions combined with innovative global investment capabilities off which we are eager to build future investment products.”

Omega Global Investors was advised by Nelson Lam and Glenn Dunn of Berkshire Capital as sell side advisors and Hall & Wilcox as Legal Advisor.

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