Four years after its acquisition by Sequoia Financial Planning, dealer group Libertas Financial Planning gets into the process of liquidation and deregistration.
In an ASX announcement, parent company Sequoia said it plans to consolidate AFS licences, with management making the decision to transfer Libertas’ operations and customers to InterPrac Financial Planning and Sequoia Wealth Management.
This move aims “to achieve operational and cost synergies”, the firm said.
The decision had been confirmed in a general meeting of the members of the company on 26 May 2023, where it was resolved that the company be wound up and a liquidator be appointed.
Sequoia acquired Libertas in August 2019. Under the terms of the agreement, Libertas would remain separate from InterPrac and would continue to operate under its own AFS licence brand and identity.
The acquisition is Sequoia’s eighth AFSL business that operates under their own identity and licence within the Sequoia Group.
The decision to consolidate AFS licences follows an “incredibly challenging” financial year for the group, which saw EBITDA fall 55.5 per cent to $5.5 million.
In the year to 30 June 2023, revenue fell to $131.5 million, a 10.7 per cent loss from $147.3 million in FY22.
The firm said the results were affected by weaker equity market conditions, non-recurring expenses, notably claims and penalties of $2 million, and unrealised losses on its share portfolio of $0.7 million.
Garry Crole, Sequoia chief executive and managing director, stated: “The year tested the resilience of the financial services industry with rising interest rates, global inflation, a reduction in the available adviser pool and a heavy fall in market volumes.
“Positively, we navigated the delicate balancing act of maintaining profitability while absorbing increased operational expenses from an inflationary market in addition to several significant non-recurring expenses.”
