Challenger to split business after merger
ChallengerInternationalandCPH Investmentwill split into life and non-life divisions following a merging of the two groups in July, an Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) briefing was told last week.
Challenger acting chief executive Chris Cuffe told the ASX the split business would consist of a pure life company — after joining the two existing life businesses together — and a separate non-life business, which will include the combined group’s funds management, financial planning, margin lending and Synergy master trust operations.
Cuffe said the reason for separating the businesses after the merger was to make it easier for the joint business to gauge the performance of each individual division.
“The current structure has the life company owning a lot of non-life assets, which then have to use appraisal value accounting, so it’s quite difficult to see the performance of one part of the business over another,” Cuffe said.
According to Cuffe, the post-merger focus would be on financial performance, which could be an issue given a $330 million net charge stemming from the transfer of CPH funds into the statutory funds of the Challenger life company.
Cuffe was positive about the future for funds management, despite the charge and weaker earnings for several of Australia’s big banks in the first half of 2002/03.
Recommended for you
A strong demand for core fixed income solutions has seen the Betashares Australian Composite Bond ETF surpass $1 billion in funds under management, driven by both advisers and investors.
As the end of the year approaches, two listed advice licensees have seen significant year-on-year improvement in their share price with only one firm reporting a loss since the start of 2025.
Having departed Magellan after more than 18 years, its former head of investment Gerald Stack has been appointed as chief executive of MFF Group.
With scalability becoming increasingly important for advice firms, a specialist consultant says organisational structure and strategic planning can be the biggest hurdles for those chasing growth.
