A former Insignia advice firm Murray Nankivell, specialising in providing advice in regional South Australia, has joined the Count licensee.
The firm was previously licensed through Insignia’s Consultum Australian financial services licence (AFSL) and dates back more than 40 years. It specialises in providing advice in regional and rural areas, with offices in Naracoorte, Bordertown and Murray Bridge.
Tony Bedworth, director at Murray Nankivell, said: “While we have clients Australia-wide, the majority of people we work with are rural and in close proximity to one of our three offices in country South Australia.
“These are relatively small towns, so the communities are tight-knit and often have similar needs and circumstances. That means we are uniquely placed to offer the right support and build those connections. That leads to word-of-mouth referrals to bring in new clients and grow our business.”
Andrew Kennedy, group head of advice at Count, added: “Tony and the team bring significant experience to our expanding adviser community. They are extremely professional to deal with and truly embrace Count’s culture of peer-sharing and collaboration. Our other members, particularly those in South Australia, will benefit greatly from their appointment to our network.”
At the start of the month, Count completed its acquisition of rival licensee Diverger to create a licensee with $30 billion in funds under advice and over 550 advisers and almost 600 accountants. These combined numbers made it Australia’s second-largest licensee behind AMP.
Earlier this year, Money Management covered how there is a “mind-blowing” opportunity for client pipelines in regional and rural areas, thanks to the intergenerational wealth transfer.
“Country people are looking for help. These firms have a massive pipeline of new clients. They have people knocking down their door; there’s a year’s worth of work out there for them. It really blew our minds,” said Callum Mitchener, managing director of Wealth Architects, which is acquiring two regional firms in Victoria.
Meanwhile, Integro Private Wealth has partnered with AMD Chartered Accountants to provide residents in regional Western Australia with greater access to financial advice. This will see AMD’s clients able to access advice from their regional Western Australian offices in Mandurah, Bunbury, Geraldton and Margaret River, and allow Integro’s clients to access accounting services from AMD.
“Regional families are on the cusp of the biggest wealth transfer we have ever seen, with many family businesses, farms and mining sites consolidating and being sold off on the back of these high land values and market strengths,” said Integro managing partner, Justin Gilmour.
