Ipac is to unveil a program of equity options to financial planning firms this week in an effort to become Australia’s “national, pre-eminent advice and implementation group”.
The announcement follows the divestment of the Commonwealth Bank’s 50 per cent stake in the financial planning and master trust group to Ipac directors and private equity outfit UBS Capital.
As a part of the new measures, Ipac will make a concerted push into states beyond its traditional stronghold of New South Wales, and particularly Sydney. The high profile group is hoping to almost double the number of advisers in its ranks from the current level of 30 in the next three years.
Under the new equity plans, financial planning firms can elect to sell a part of their business to ipac for either cash or shares in the ipac group, or a combination of the two.
Ipac chief executive Peeyush Gupta says the group will be selective in its choice of equity partners, starting with the 30 firms involved in the ipac strategic partners program.
Gupta says the offer is unique in the Australian financial planning industry, and stands apart from the other two equity models being offered around the industry: the consolidator model and the buyer of the last resort model.
He says the equity plan is part of ipac’s strategy to offer services to help small independent financial planning firms “grow, run and exit their businesses”.
“We have been doing the grow and run part of the service for the past four years with the strategic partners program. Now that we can offer the exit strategy, we have completed the equation.”
In an unrelated move, ipac has also added a wrap service to its administration services armoury by signing up with BT Portfolio Services for an ipac badged wrap facility to complement its non-discretionary master trust, one of the pioneers of the master trust industry in Australia.
