IOOF has completed the acquisition of MLC Wealth from National Australia Bank.
IOOF said in an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that the acquisition would lead the business to have $494 billion in funds under management (FUM), and an additional 406 MLC advisers would join the firm.
The firm would also see a single senior leadership and management structure in place.
IOOF chief executive, Renato Mota, said: “Today we become a new IOOF. We have the strategic intent, the talent, and now the scale, to deliver our advice-led wealth management proposition to more Australians than ever before.
“While this acquisition delivers immediate value to our shareholders, we consider its potential for medium and long-term value even more compelling.
“Together, we will deliver clients and members broader access to wide-ranging capabilities and technical expertise, enhanced infrastructure and a strong corporate governance framework. Importantly, this step-change in scale will over time, lower the cost of serving clients and members.
“It will also help us make financial advice more affordable and accessible for the 80% of the population who currently do not seek it out.”
IOOF noted the 406 advisers represented 84% of advisers from MLC advice businesses that were in IOOF’s target set and met onboarding requirements.
“It has been a priority for IOOF to ensure that those advisers joining the group with this acquisition, as with the ANZ Wealth acquisition, are aligned with IOOF’s ClientFirst philosophy and our Advice 2.0 response to the transformation of financial advice in Australia,” Mota said.
The firm had appointed Garry Mulcahy as its chief asset management officer who would be responsible for overseeing IOF’s return to active investment management.
Mulcahy was most recently group executive, MLC Asset Management and was executive general manager for asset management from 2009 to 2018.
IOOF also appointed Sawsan Howard as chief corporate affairs and marketing officer. She had over 25 years of experience including financial services and government, and was most recently general manager, brand and corporate affairs at AustralianSuper.
