IOOF acquires stake in Patron

IOOF Holdings has acquired a minority stake in boutique financial advice firm Patron Financial Advice for an undisclosed sum, with the transaction to be completed in early May.

Patron was established in 2007, is based in New South Wales and currently has around 50 advisers, according to IOOF.

Patron, which is currently non-institutionally owned, will retain its operational independence and existing management team and board of directors, IOOF stated.

IOOF’s general manager of distribution Renato Mota said that part of IOOF’s growth strategy involved aligning to dealer or planning groups that are also experiencing strong growth, and Patron fit the bill.

Patron had fairly aggressive growth targets over the next three years in terms of adviser numbers and profitability, somewhere in the order of 50 per cent, Mota added.

IOOF had also supported Patron since the group’s inception in 2007, he added.

The most important thing is that IOOF had already developed a relationship with Patron’s key management, Mota said.

“That is the cornerstone, we’ve got a high degree of comfort and confidence in the management and believe we can work with them quite closely, it’s important to have that respect,” he said.

“IOOF sees this as a win-win scenario for both parties.”

Patron’s Rob McCann said that Patron had grown strongly since inception.

“The IOOF partnership will enable us to accelerate our growth while offering our clients the best possible quality service, investment and life products and research,” he said.