Centrestone and Berkley to merge

By George Liondis

A DESIRE to protect their independence against the prospect of institutional ownership has forced two high-end financial planning groups to push for a merger.

Centrestone Wealth Management and the Berkley Group have signed a heads of agreement and will merge as early as July if the move is approved by advisers and shareholders.

Centrestone was established in 2002 when high profile planner Rob Keavney joined up with former Investec Private Clients managing director Michael Pillemer and investment banker Malcolm Turnbull, now the Liberal member for the Sydney seat of Wentworth.

Berkley is a boutique planning business based in Sydney.

Both groups focus heavily on high-net-worth individuals; each of their advisers has an average of $74 million under advice, but only 71 clients.

Despite the high wealth of the groups’ client base, Pillemer said both businesses were short on scale.

“The rationale for this move is clear. It is really about strengthening both businesses for the future and providing a real alternative for advisers and their clients,” he said.

However, neither group was willing to sacrifice independence to satisfy their need for growth.

“Our difference is that we are not aligned to an institution. That allows us to offer unbiased advice that is in the client’s best interests,” Pillemer said.

“We focus on servicing a smaller number of clients with tailored financial planning advice, which is really the opposite of most other dealer groups, which require their financial planners to see a high volume of clients.”

Glen Castensen, group managing director of Berkley, said: “There are not too many groups like ours that have such a passion for independence.”