First announced in March this year, the acquisition brought the combined business to a total of 400 advisers and $17 billion in client funds under administration, representing 3,500 clients.
Affinia’s risk specialists and holistic financial advisory firms would also add important capabilities to the business.
According to Hugh Humphrey, Count chief executive, the acquisition would position Count as one of Australia’s leading integrated accounting and wealth services providers and a major player in the future of wealth management.
“[Affinia] are a terrific holistic advice business; half of the revenue comes from super and investment advice and half comes from risk advice. Whereas at CountPlus, 80 per cent is from super and investment advice and just 20 per cent from risk advice,” he told Money Management.
“There’s been a lot of changes in the risk space lately, so this is an area where our advisers can learn from Affinia; they have a deep expertise in risk and will fit in well with Count and improve our ability to give risk advice”.
Commenting on the acquisition, TAL Group CEO and managing director, Brett Clark, said: “Count is a leading accounting and wealth services provider which shares our passion for financial advisers and the positive difference they make to their clients and the community.
“We are proud of the strong business Affinia has grown to be and wish their advisers and the entire Count team success in the future. We are looking forward to working together with Count and remain committed to supporting advisers.”
Earlier this month, Count announced a name change and new brand direction with an overwhelming 99.94 per cent of shareholder votes cast in favour of a successful name change to Count Limited.
According to Humphrey, it signalled “a dynamic new phase for the company”.
