Karmel Walker

Freshwater Wealth continues to exceed growth expectations, expanding its advice network by 600% in less than 12-months to include seven financial advisers and growing its support team to 15 full-time members.

Most recently, Karmel Walker joined the business, taking the Freshwater Wealth offer to the Sunshine Coast, a significant growth hotspot for retirees, while Ben Shaw joined the Sydney team, bringing more than three decades experience in financial advice. The business is also in discussion with financial advisers in other Australian states.

According to Freshwater Wealth Partner Roger Perrett, the growth likely makes Freshwater Wealth the fastest-growing practice in the advice industry but also highlights the current dislocation in the advice market that is driving adviser movement.

“Our growth has certainly surpassed our expectations, which reflects on our offer to attract financial advisers, but also on the structural change that is taking place in the advice market which is facilitating and enabling advisers to hold the buying power.”

Perrett said the structural change is being driven by three main key factors:

1.Strong demand for advice: While financial adviser numbers have stabilised, the circa 15,400 advisers currently in the industry, is not enough to satisfy the demand for financial advice.

“Clients really value their relationship with their adviser and want to retain this relationship, often following their adviser to a new firm,” said Perrett.

He added: “Quality advice firms with a great brand and marketing, are also attracting very high volumes of new clients. This means there is a huge opportunity for advisers to grow and enhance their careers.”

2. Changes in attitudes around employment contracts: The financial advice employment market is not as restrictive as it once was in terms of the financial or legal ramifications of changing licensees or advice practices.

High profile legal cases have debated non-compete and non-solicitation clauses and while advisers should seek legal advice, the power of these clauses appears to be diminishing.

Further, advisers are looking for an alignment in personal values and are searching for appealing employment opportunities where advisers feel appreciated.

“As such, advice firms cannot rest on their laurels,” said Perrett. “Firms now need to be great at both attracting advisers, and very good at retaining people.”

3. Greater employment options: No longer do financial advisers just have the choice between AMP or bank-owned distribution arms, with greater opportunity to specialise in practices that focus on a key market segment such as particular generations, women or ESG investing.

For these reasons, advisers are in a strong position to evaluate their current employer and deciding if they stay or go.

“It is much lower risk and appealing for advisers to move,” said Perrett. “There is often great upside with less shackles for advisers to change firms.”

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Paul Oesterheld

New advice business Freshwater Wealth has expanded its team to help service the influx of inter-generational wealth transfer clients which are being referred by existing clients and who now account for 15% of referrals to the business.

According to Freshwater Wealth Founder and Partner Roger Perrett, the businesses fast-paced expansion from three to five advisers in a matter of months and additional support staff, reflects the wave of intergenerational wealth transfer clients seeking assistance from the advice industry.

It has been estimated by the Productivity Commission in 2021 that around $3.5 trillion in assets will be transferred in Australia alone by 2050, with a more recent study by JBWere findng women will receive 65 per cent of the nearly $5 trillion due to pass from Baby Boomers and their parents to the next generation by 2034.^[1]

“The average age of our clients is 60-70 years and their parents are 80-90 years,” said Perrett. “Our clients are grappling with their parent’s diagnoses as well as dementia or alzheimers and are looking for help around Powers of Attorney, transferring wealth and ensuring their care.”

To provide these services, Freshwater Wealth is joined by two new Partners, Paul Oesterheld and Archana Bhatia, who both bring more than 30 years experience each to the growing business. Oesterheld previously worked with Viridian Advisory and Westpac Private Bank where he stayed for 25 years, while Bhatia was previously at Financial Decisions where she managed the team of advisers as Head of Wealth and as a board member, after 20 years at Westpac.

Perrett said the influx of wealth transfer clients has required the business to focus on broadening the relationships it has with its existing clients, and to work more closely with women who have become the head of families or have received wealth transfers.

“Multi-generational relationships across families has become very important to us, getting to know the next layer of families and all the issues that involves, especially health.”

Perrett said a Will is the best document which can be used to understand the family structure and family issues and has a range of legal refferal partners which the business works with.

“Wills sort out who the black sheep is in the family and often provides an up-to-date indicator on family relationships, health status and future plans.”

Freshwater Wealth entered the advice market in December 2023 providing a professional, education-based advice service to high-net-worth individuals including retiring baby-boomers and single and widowed women seeking a tailored and proactive advice service.

It aims to be a conduit to client’s achieving their lifestyle goals but also to identify and reduce problems they may not realise they have through education and proactive advice to help manage common life challenges.

These financial problems and challenges include avoiding debt mistakes, living confidently without paying income tax again, caring for elderly parents, cybersecurity, safely transferring money and gifting funds and inheritance with the desired outcomes.

“Intergenerational wealth transfer bring with it a host of issues and requires relationships with more than just the client who sits in front of you,” said Perrett.

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Notes:
[1] JBWere The Growth of Women and Wealth March 2024

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(L to R): Jon Harris, Dean Fuchs and Roger Perrett

New advice business Freshwater Wealth has entered the advice market providing a professional, education-based advice service to high-net-worth individuals including retiring baby-boomers and single and widowed women seeking a tailored and proactive advice service.

Freshwater Wealth aims to be a conduit to client’s achieving their lifestyle goals but also to identify and reduce problems they may not realise they have through education and proactive advice to help manage common life challenges.

Established in December last year, the new business has been met with overwhleming demand, with the practice already expanding to include a further two experienced advisers and establishing a wait list for potential new clients seeking its services.

According to Founder and Partner Roger Perrett, this market response clearly demonstrates the current unmet demand for advice and that the advice industry is in a ‘perfect storm’ – greater awareness by baby-boomers of the choices ahead of them, strong demand for advice, yet not enough advisers to supply the service.

“Demand is extremely high and there is a huge opportunity with retirees, women and those who have inherited money or who are facing an illness, to provide a service that focusses on achieving clients goals and maximising available opportunities but also solve potential problems.”

These financial problems and challenges include avoiding debt mistakes, living confidently without paying income tax again, caring for elderly parents, cybersecurity, safely transferring money and gifting funds and inheritance with the desired outcomes.

Perrett says while greater information has increased awareness of these issues, understanding how to manage them and the role advisers can play to help clients, has not been achieved.

“The baby-boomer generation is more aware than ever before of the complex web of issues that they face around housing, retirement, aged-care and inheritance but they are unsure where to get the answers.”

The team at Freshwater Wealth has combined financial advice experience of more than 93 years. Perrett alone brings more than 25 years executive financial advice expereince to the business having spent more than 20 years at Westpac Finanical Advice. In 2022, he was recognised as one of the Top 50 Most influential Advisers in Australia by Financial Standard.

He is joined by Jon Harris, a former senior business advice with BT Advice and senior financial planner with Westpac and Dean Fuchs, who also worked for more than 30 years as a executive financial planner and in the private client division at Westpac. Freshwater Wealth is licensed by Centrepoint Alliance Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s largest licensees with close to 800 advisers.

The new business is part of the ongoing transformation in the advice industry where the largest segment of licensees is privatley-owned practices made up of 1-10 financial advisers. This segment now account for 26.8% of advisers¹ and while overall adviser numbers are now stabilising, there are 15,689 advisers to service a growing market, with 29% of unadvised Australians now seeking advice².

According to Perrett, these two factors that include a limited number of advisers and a heightened demand for financial advice, is driving the uptake of advice together with a strong appetite for education.

“Financial advice is about having a strategy in place to protect and grow wealth, but it also needs to educate clients on how they can manage common financial and lifestyle challenge. Freshwater Wealth is excited to be bringing this premium service to the Australian advice market. ”

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