Ord Minnett has welcomed nine senior advisers to its ranks, including six who have jumped ship from Perpetual Private.
The financial advice and investment services firm confirmed Malissa Tobias, Mark Heffernan, Shiva Vemula, Daniel Swallow, Andrew Epplett and Oscar Howard have joined its Melbourne office.
The six advisers made the move from Perpetual Private, where they all spent approximately five years at the company. Both Tobias and Heffernan were partners at the wealth manager, while the remaining four were senior advisers.
Ord Minnett has also appointed Chris Flynn and Charles Buxton to its Sydney office, who both join from FIIG Securities. Flynn held the director of fixed income role at FIIG for more than eight years, while Buxton was an associate director.
Meanwhile, Con Maglis is the final senior adviser to be joining Ord Minnett, who will be working between the Gold Coast and Sydney offices. He also joins his Perpetual peers where he, too, spent five years at the firm previously.
Karl Morris, chief executive and managing director at Ord Minnett, said it is no secret that the firm is looking to expand its adviser base, describing the recent additions as a strategic move for the company.
“We have made it no secret Ords is looking to grow its client and adviser base, which is why we are actively recruiting top tier talent from all across Australia,” he commented.
“This addition of nine advisers is substantial in today’s market, especially at a time when the demand for financial advice is high, and adviser numbers are low.”
Alongside the nine incoming advisers, the firm stated that three private wealth assistants will be commencing over the coming weeks.
Frank Hegerty, Ord Minnett’s head of private wealth, said its new advisers will bolster the company’s wealth advisory offering as it continues to expand across Australia.
“Ords is able to service high-net-worth clients all over Australia, thanks to the calibre of our wealth advisers across our 13 offices, with a 14th office to launch shortly in Noosa,” Hegerty remarked.
“The addition of established advisers across multiple offices will further strengthen our depth and offering in wealth management.”
While the business is focused on growing its adviser numbers via the established adviser market, both Morris and Hegerty said Ord Minnett is also committed to training the next generation of advisers through its associate adviser and graduate programs.
The graduate program has received double the number of applications from 250 to 500 year-on-year, underscoring rising interest from graduate students in the advice industry.
Hegerty continued: “At a time when adviser numbers have almost halved in Australia due to necessary regulation, it is incredibly encouraging to see such strong demand for a career in financial advice from our next generation.”
