A financial services veteran, Bolton has over 30 years of experience in the industry, including various executive roles in public and privately owned organisations across South Africa, the UK and Australia.

Bringing an international outlook to her new appointment at Findex, Bolton is charged with driving the strategic direction of the cross-functional financial team at Findex. Her key focus will be to champion growth in regional Australia during a transformational period for the industry and alongside the senior leadership bench, aiming to triple the size of the business’ wealth practice from AUD$17 billion FUA to upwards of AUD$50 billion.

Bolton’s appointment follows a senior leadership reshape late last year where Co-Founder Spiro Paule stepped down from his role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to take on the newly created role of Managing Director (MD) and company veterans then Chief Operating Officer (COO) Tony Roussos and CFO Matthew Games moved into a shared Co-CEO role.

Findex Co-Chief Executive Officer Mathew Games, says, “Lianne is a seasoned and strategic financial services executive who has navigated organisations through significant periods of growth with consistent positive results. She aligns with Findex’s short and long-term strategic plans and is a welcomed asset to help us drive these outcomes.

“Alongside the changes to the senior leadership team and Lianne coming onboard, Findex is primed and in the position to take the lion’s share of the wealth sector with our best-in-class advice model that puts clients’ interests front and centre.”

Prior to joining the Findex executive team, Lianne has worked for several large organisations operating in complex environments notably Investec Bank, Bank of Queensland, and most recently holding Chief Financial Officer positions at Maia Financial and Credabl.

Bolton has proven experience in mergers and acquisition, capital raising, securitisation, balance sheet management and risk management. She has additionally demonstrated consistent results driving growth in sales, improving P&L performance, capital planning and executing data-driven product and service development strategies.

“In my role at Findex, I want to challenge what people typically expect out of a Chief Financial Officer. I don’t want to be the finance person that just sits in her office looking over spreadsheets – it’s more than that. I hope to build relationships across the business and with our stakeholders, showcasing how my team and I can contribute with meaningful insights and provide crucial wider market context,” said Findex Chief Financial Officer Lianne Bolton.

“Mentorship is truly a passion of mine and is at the core of what I do. I would not be in the position I am in today without guidance from leaders who took the time to invest in my growth. I look forward to being a visible and empowering leader to my team and the business,” said Bolton.

Findex recently added 57 new Partners and Associate Partners in both metro and regional Australia and New Zealand to its ranks, laying the foundations for a stronger more united support system across the markets.

The post Findex appoints financial executive Lianne Bolton to the role of Chief Financial Officer appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Tony Roussos

Young Australians (Generation Z (Gen Z) and Millennials) are putting billions of dollars of inheritance at risk with their current money management behaviours, reveals new research from Findex Group Limited (“Findex”).

The research commissioned by Findex, Australasia’s largest integrated wealth management and accounting firm, explored the spending, saving and investing behaviours of over 1,000 Australians aged from 18 to 80 across metro and regional areas.

Wealth changes hands

A key data point was 43% of Gen Z and 35% of Millennial respondents are ‘expecting an inheritance’ from their parents or grandparents; aligning with the 2021 Productivity Commission report, which  projected that Baby Boomers will pass an estimated $224 billion each year in inheritance by 2050 – creating a $3.5 trillion influx of wealth to the younger generations.

“As a society, we are facing one of the largest wealth transfers in modern history. However, what our research shows is the level of financial literacy and responsible money management among younger Australians calls into question whether they have the skills to ensure they are able to pass a similar inheritance on to their own children,” says Findex Co-CEO Tony Roussos.

Younger Aussies money management habits

While the younger respondents noted they ‘feel confident about managing their finances’ (Millennials 43%, Gen Z 35%), ‘have budgets’ (Millennials 72%, Gen Z 51%) and ‘pay bills on time’ (Millennials 96%, Gen Z 93%), this is at odds with other findings where they prefer to ‘live for today’ (Millennials 63%, Gen Z 64%), ‘spend money over saving for long term’ (Millennials 57%, Gen Z 55%) and ‘have no other investments’ (Millennials 55%, Gen Z 60%).

For those with investments, the majority of younger Australians (Millennials 70%, Gen Z 77%) are prepared to be riskier with their money – cryptocurrencies, for example, are the primary investment choice among Gen Z (42%). 23% of millennial respondents additionally noted that they had less than $20,000 in their superannuation despite the majority noting a $1 million superannuation balance would be the minimum for comfortable retirement.

Financial advice

The research also showcases a strong resistance to receiving professional financial guidance with less than half (Millennials 44.7%, Gen Z 45%) open to using a financial adviser in the future.

They instead prefer to turn to peers (Millennials 21%, Gen Z 30%) for financial advice or opt to do their own research (47% Millennials and Gen Z). A key driver for this is a feeling that they don’t have sufficient assets to justify professional advice (16% Millennials, 17.6% Gen Z) and that financial advisers were too expensive (Millennials 18.7%, Gen Z 15.7%).

Adding to this, the majority (29%) of all respondents were only willing to pay less than $500 yearly for a financial adviser, despite the current industry average sitting at $3,529 per annum.

“This is a wakeup call for the wealth industry to seriously rethink of how we engage with younger Australians,” says Mr Roussos.

“With billions on the line, it is also a clear opportunity for financial advisers to better partner with Baby Boomer clients to not only set up the transfer of family wealth but also to work closely with them to empower their kids and grandkids with the crucial, trusted professional advice.”

“By financial advisers investing the time to build multi-generational client relationships earlier on, the wealth is hopefully secured and grown over the long-term.”

How Aussies engage with financial advisers

Overall, when looking for a financial adviser, Australians consider honesty (47%), expertise (45.5%) and putting client’s interest first (41.7%) as their top three qualities.

Those who have a financial adviser prefer to deal with them face to face (66.7%) with the main financial goals being ‘to build wealth’ (27.1%), ‘have peace of mind’ (26.3%) and ‘to consult with someone with more financial expertise than myself’ (23.7%).

Additional key research figures:

• 43.5% of Australians have a confident level of understanding of how they manage their finances
• Overall, 51.3% of respondents reported they are the primary financial decision makers in their household. However, 47% of Baby Boomers and 35.4% of Gen X share responsibility with their partners
• Top types of investments:
  • Superannuation (60.4%)
  • Share/stocks (44.2%)
  • Cash (39.4%)
  • High interest savings accounts (31.6%)
  • Residential property (27%)
• How Australians decide what to invest in
  • 47.4% Did my own research into the investment and concluded it was a good investment
  • 33.6% Aligns with personal interests
  • 23.6% Advised by a financial adviser
  • 15.3% Recommended by friends
  • 14.2% Aligns with personal values (investing in an ethical and sustainable business)
• 55.1% of Australians do not use a financial planner and do not intend to use one in future
• Key barriers of entry to getting professional financial advice:
  • 32% prefer to manage own money
  • 23% too expensive/can’t afford one
  • 20% not enough assets to justify using one

The post Risking the Great Wealth Transfer – How young Aussies spend, save and invest puts future inheritance in jeopardy appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Over the next five years Findex is aiming to triple the size of its wealth practice, growing from $17 billion in FUA to upwards of $50 billion as it takes advantage of the significant changes in the wealth management landscape.

Findex Co-Founder, Spiro Paule has appointed Co-CEOs in company veterans Chief Operations Officer, Tony Roussos, and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Games, in a move to bolster the leadership team to capture this opportunity. Mr. Paule’s decision is the realisation of a succession plan that will allow him to focus on the role of Managing Director where he will continue to lead the overall strategic direction as well as overseeing the group’s ambitious expansion plans.

“The Hayne Royal Commission has had a seismic impact on Australia’s Wealth Management sector,” Mr. Paule said.

“With ASIC citing that over 3000 advisers have already left the wealth space and the major banks divesting their interests, the opportunity is ripe for Findex to lead the charge in a new way of managing wealth, focussing on customer value and transparency combined with best practice accounting services.”

Mr. Paule, who co-founded Findex more than 30 years ago with his brother Terry, said that Findex’s wealth accounting model, which provides clients with access to a broad range of advisory, financial planning, accounting and audit services via their accountant, along with deep connections into a broad cross-section of businesses and individuals, makes it competitively placed to aggressively grow its market share.

“As the largest provider of integrated Wealth and Accounting services in Australia, Findex is uniquely positioned to deliver on the vision my brother Terry and I started this business with – to bring the two major hubs of a client relationship, the accountant and financial planner, together to increase value and create better outcomes for clients.” says Findex Managing Director, Spiro Paule.

“With the growth momentum we have behind us, our investment in leadership capability at this time will help the business capitalise on the strategic growth opportunities available whilst  allowing me to step back from day to day operations. I will continue to work closely with our longstanding Board and executive team to drive the strategic direction of the business.” 

The new Co-CEOs will act as joint custodians for Findex’s new chapter. With a collective 45 years’ experience with the brand, they combine deep business knowledge with complementary skills that enhance the leadership team and will allow it to capitalise on its growth momentum.

Mr. Roussos and Mr. Games have been pivotal to Findex’s transformational M&A strategy, overseeing 63 acquisitions with key operational input during their working partnership, including global accounting firm Crowe Australasia and wealth management leader Centric Wealth. This has resulted in the business growing from a team of 50 people to nearly 3,000 across 100 locations since 2008. 

Findex Co-CEO, Tony Roussos, says, “As one of Findex’s first employees, it is a privilege to be given the opportunity to be custodian for the business as we look to activate our next stage of growth. Findex was started by two visionary founders, who saw an opportunity to bring together wealth and accounting services to deliver greater value for clients. Now, as Australia’s largest diversified financial services business, we’re continuing to tread our own path, building a model built around the needs of our clients.”

Findex Co-CEO, Matt Games adds, “When I left Macquarie Bank to join Findex as CFO 15 years ago, I was attracted to its entrepreneurial vision combined with the strong family values instilled by founders, Spiro and Terry Paule. As an executive team, we’ve always worked together under the strategic guidance of Spiro to leverage our complementary skills and I’m looking forward to continuing my strong partnership with Tony to drive the business on its next stage of growth.”

This leadership model will  bring to life Findex’s vision of an integrated wealth and accounting offering by taking advantage of the restructure of the wealth management sector where Findex’s longstanding fee-for-service model and salaried adviser status give it significant competitive advantage and uniquely positions it to deliver a Wealth Accounting model to its SME client base.

Findex has always been guided by human connection, growth and innovation. When brothers Spiro and Terry Paule founded the company in 1987, they formed key values that the company has retained through its dynamic cycle of mergers and acquisitions. Today the firm stands at nearly 3,000 staff and 250,000 clients.

The appointments of the new leadership arrangements came into effect on Monday 22 August 2022.

The post Australia’s largest provider of integrated wealth and accounting services appoints Co-CEOs to execute its expansion strategy appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Findex has announced 57 new partners, comprising external appointments and internal promotions in moves designed to significantly bolster its Australasian network and regional reach.

Almost a quarter of the new partners are based in regional areas, giving Findex a significant foothold in fast-growing regions including Coffs Harbour, Toowoomba and Mildura.

Adding to the strength of its tax advisory team, Findex has appointed John Baillie as a Senior Partner with the Corporate and International Tax business, which operates as Crowe Australasia. Mr Baillie was formerly a Partner (Corporate and International Tax) with Deloitte Australia.

Mr Baillie joins another leading tax specialist, Mark Azzopardi, who has been appointed Managing Partner of the Tax Advisory service line.

Mr Azzopardi brings to Findex a demonstrated history at several of the big four networks and mid-tier firms, having most recently served as Managing Partner of the national specialist tax group at Grant Thornton, and as Tax Partner at Deloitte prior. Mr Azzopardi will oversee the company’s tax advisory business, encompassing tax advice, valuations, research and development, international tax, and customs and international trade.

Other key partner appointments include:

• Naida Beltrame, formerly principal of Beltrame Consulting, has been appointed Partner for National R&D and Tax Leader
• Tony Newham, formerly Program Manager with Tabcorp, has joined as a Partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions team
• Tony Krohn, formerly a consultant with Richmark, joins as a Partner in Corporate Finance.

Findex COO Tony Roussos said the new partner appointments came at a pivotal growth stage for the company.

“We are thrilled to have industry leaders like John Baillie, Mark Azzopardi, Naida Beltrame, Tony Newham, Tony Krohn and many others taking their place in the Findex team as Partners. In all, we’ve added 57 new partners across our core advisory teams in what is the largest promotion of talent both internally and externally in our company’s history,” Mr Roussos said.

“In 2020 we want to get closer to our clients, and these appointments add to the depth and quality of our advisory ranks. Findex has expanded significantly this year across several divisions and we have no doubt that our new partners will play a critical role in future growth.”

The firm, which is in over 110 locations, has experienced expeditious growth over the past year with five Australian acquisitions, including tech start-up, LendEx, as well as one New Zealand acquisition.

The company has a proud history of growing talent internally; 68% of appointments came via internal promotion.

Findex has also expanded significantly in regional parts of Australia and New Zealand, with nearly 25% of leadership appointments taking place outside of major metropolitan areas. The company is known for its high-touch, personalised approach, and is connected into individual communities.

Reflecting on Findex’s expanding international advisory capabilities, several of the new appointments will be based in the Crowe Australasia team. Findex operates as the Australasian arm of Crowe Global, ranked the eighth largest accounting network in the world.

Mr Roussos said: “We’re proud to be a member of the Crowe Global network, and celebrate that for over 100 years, members of Crowe have made smart decisions for multinational clients working across borders. These global ties are crucial for our work with governments, regulatory bodies and industry groups to shape the future of the profession worldwide,” he said.

The post Findex announce 57 new partner appointments, targeting regional growth appeared first on AdviserVoice.