Ipac enters South Africa
Ipac Securities has entered the South African market with the purchase of a 50 per cent stake in the unit trust business of Brait SA.
Brait and Ipac will each control 50 per cent of a newly formed holding company which will operate the unit trust business, Brait Management Company.
Under the terms of the agreement, BMC will use Ipac's front and back office services in South Africa.
Ipac executive chairman Arun Abey says he expects the venture to mirror the group's successful entry into the New Zealand market 12 years ago which has resulted in the group owning New Zealand's largest unit trust.
"We have 30,000 clients worldwide and manage US$5 billion in funds. Every one of those 30,000 has a plan and a strategy and the investment fund is secondary to that," he says.
Abey says Brait was looking for an Australian planning firm to enter into a joint venture with because "Brait saw the Australian industry as the most interesting and the most advanced".
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