Look's like international companies seeing the opportunity in the advice industry which will create competition.
Wall Street private equity firm Merchant Investment Management has set up shop in Australia, pledging to provide much-needed capital to independent financial advice businesses following the big banks’ exit from the troubled wealth management market.
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“The big macro trends of the banks leaving the space and the volume of clients pining for quality, independent guidance seems to be completely [advantageous] to us right now.”
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Coupled with soaring asset prices that have made Australians among the world’s richest people per capita, the exit of the banks from the wealth industry (dubbed the “Wexit”) has paved the way for a proliferation of quality independent and boutique firms, the investor said.
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“Private equity money often comes with a shot clock – they need to invest, create value and exit, and there is less of a mandate of long-term strategy and growth and development of people and branding,” Mr Brinker said. “Our capital is longer duration.”