As Annick Donat announces she will step down as group CEO from Clime Investment Management, Money Management takes a look back at the M&A moves made by the firm.
It was confirmed on 15 July 2024 that Donat will be departing the firm from 31 July after three years in the group chief executive position.
She initially joined Clime, which includes Clime Private Wealth, in 2020 as the former CEO of Madison Financial Group, which was sold to licensee Infocus last month in a $2 million deal, and was appointed CEO the following year in April 2021. Prior to heading up Madison, Donat was head of licensee development at BT Group licensees.
In addition to the deal to the Madison sale, the firm has made three other wealth management moves since Donat’s appointment: the acquisition of Ralton Asset Management, MTIS Wealth Management, and strategic alliances with Practice Development Group and Teaminvest.
The firm was formed in 1996 by founder and chairman John Abernethy, and was later listed on the ASX in 2001. Clime has more than $1.3 billion in funds under management and over $4 billion in funds under advice.
2020
It was first confirmed in May 2020 that Clime was in discussions to acquire Madison Financial Group from OneVue. At the time, it was signalled that two companies were bidding for Madison, with the other contender rumoured to be Centrepoint Alliance.
One month later, Clime officially acquired Madison for a total expected consideration of around $5 million, which also saw Donat join the firm as a result of the deal.
2021
Donat was then appointed as group chief executive in April 2021, commencing on 1 May 2021. At the time, Abernethy commented: “Since the acquisition of Madison Financial Group, Annick has displayed a deep understanding of Clime’s business and is expertly positioned to drive our next phase of growth and strengthen our offering to our investor clients and financial advisers.”
By the end of 2021, the firm announced it had entered into a heads of agreement with Ralton Asset Management to merge the managed account operations of the two firms together. The combined assets under management totalled $330 million for the managed accounts business, “providing a platform for significant growth”.
2022
Clime confirmed in January 2022 that it would transfer management of its approximate $270 million of FUM in the SMA/MDA space to Ralton in exchange for an initial shareholding of 75 per cent of the firm. This also included the option for Clime to fully acquire Ralton in the second half of the calendar year.
Midway through 2022, the investment manager completed the acquisition of MTIS Wealth Management for $7 million. MTIS is a diversified wealth management, advisory and accounting and tax services business. According to Donat, the deal expanded Clime’s private wealth presence in Melbourne and created new market opportunities for the firm.
2023
In August 2023, Madison formed a strategic alliance with Practice Development Group (PDG), which represents Godfrey Pembroke advisers, to consolidate the respective service offerings of each group and provide Australian financial services licence (AFSL) services to their respective adviser networks. This brought combined funds under advice to $8 billion through 130 advisers between the two companies.
Clime then entered into negotiations about a strategic business alliance with listed investment house Teaminvest Private Group (TIP) in a move to return the firm to profitability in December 2023.
2024
It was first announced in May 2024 that Clime entered into a heads of agreement to divest Madison and WealthPortal to rival licensee Infocus for $2 million. Following the divestment, Clime will streamline its operations to focus on funds management and private wealth. The deal was later completed on 28 June 2024.
So much value destruction. And where is Board accountability? Will John Abernethy ever go to save the company?