In another sign that financial planning at the Big Five accounting firms is undergoing a major shakeup, a group of advisers, headed by Deloitte Financial Services director Rowan Wall, are leaving to start a new company.
This follows the sale of the largest Big Five player in this market, KPMG Financial Services, to St George last week.
In addition to several colleagues from Deloittes, Wall will be joined by his brother Geoffrey, who recently resigned from accountants Williams, Hatchman & Kean, and Brett Scott, a former partner of solicitors Donovan, Oats & Hannaford.
“So far there are 10 of us. Each has been handpicked. We all have complementary skills and we decided to meet on neutral ground and build something new,” Wall says.
The company, to operate under the banner of Financial Aspirations, starts with about $300 million under advice. It will be based at Milsons Point and offer “one stop” financial planning, accounting, legal, real estate, financial and insurance services.
“We will have a whole floor dedicated to looking after individuals when we open our doors in November. We have also made a huge investment in technology and software,” Wall says.
The new company will buy its existing client book from Deloittes, which, it is understood, will continue to build its own financial planning practice.
Wall stresses that his departure from Deloittes is friendly, but admits that it was motivated by differences in opinion about future strategies.
“We are creating a new generation of independents at a time when nearly all our key competitors have been bought out,” he adds.
One of these competitors is KPMG Financial Services, headed by Max Weston, who was an associate of Wall’s at Godfrey Weston in the early 1980s.
KPMG Financial Services, with $520 million of funds under advice, now becomes a subsidiary of St George and will operate as part of its private bank.
“The business isn’t expected to change significantly. We are just going to be busier and have more customers,” Weston says.
It will continue to operate from its existing premises and can retain the KPMG name for up to two years.
