Marking off its first year of operation, Perth-based advice firm Leeuwin Wealth is looking to strengthen its position in the WA market through organic growth and a strong regional presence.
On 4 November 2024, managing director Jane Tandy, head of financial advice Jason Featherby, head of institutional sales Michael Brindal, corporate finance specialist Aaron Constantine, and Aaron Young teamed up to launch Leeuwin Wealth.
Starting out with a total of nine staff at its office in West Perth, the firm has now grown to 19 in its first year with a small foothold in Albany as well that is serviced by the firm’s primary office.
The firm has also expanded its offerings internally with the launch of wealth and corporate finance arms of the business, alongside its financial advice services, and has since raised over $100 million for clients across 18 corporate finance transactions.
Speaking with Money Management, Tandy said Leeuwin saw another shift in March after being granted an AFSL and becoming self-licensed, a decision that Tandy explained has allowed the firm to operate more independently to better serve the needs of their clients.
“I think we always wanted to go self-licensed. Between our founder group, three of us had over 20 years of experience being RMs on licenses, so we knew that we had the capabilities to obtain and support our own licence. I think for us, that made sense. It means we can offer a broader product offering to our clients,” she said.
Tandy had previously told Money Management in March that the firm had set a goal to hit $1 billion in funds under management (FUM) by its one-year anniversary. Six months on and Leeuwin Wealth is nearing this goal with $960 million in FUM – and Tandy is confident the firm will hit its target by the end of 2025.
“For us, the important thing is we set what sounded like a really lofty goal for a firm for one year in operation, and we’ve almost achieved it, we got so close. I’d rather set a stretch target and get close to that, rather than set an easy target that I know I’m going to achieve,” she said.
The firm has no intention of slowing down, however, with Tandy sharing that it is aiming to have $1.5 billion in FUM by this time next year.
With no plans to engage in M&A in the near future, Tandy said the firm is prioritising organic growth, with a particular focus on supporting the early careers of young and emerging talent in the industry.
Since the launch, Leeuwin has seen three interns convert into full-time positions at the firm, giving them practical experience in the industry while still at university, as well as delivering benefits for the business.
“Being able to offer them full-time positions has been really rewarding, and there’s a lot of benefit of having use within your business. It’s made our AI journey a lot easier for the rest of us in our 40s. Some people to assist us. They’re just so good at adapting to change, at absorbing everything,” she said.
“And it’s great because they haven’t been taught things a different way so we can really teach them fresh when it comes to culture, systems, processes, compliance, as to how we’re doing it here at Leeuwin.”
Just last week, the firm appointed Charli Grayson and Connor Smith to full-time positions after both joined as interns, with Grayson stepping into the client services officer role on the financial planning team, and Smith becoming the first participant in the firm’s newly created graduate program.
This initiative, Tandy explained, allows candidates to experience a variety of roles across the breadth of the business, providing them with the opportunity to test out different roles in the advice industry before settling down into something more permanent.
While Smith will be the first to go through this program, Tandy said that the firm is only looking to take on one new candidate every year, focusing on ensuring that the right person is given this opportunity.
Looking to the future, she said that the firm plans to continue its focus on recruiting junior staff with some organic growth already in the pipeline. Meanwhile, on the corporate front, the firm is aiming to raise for another 20 corporate clients, along with the overall $1.5 billion FUM goal.
“We’ve created a really attractive adviser toolkit across research, advisory tools, and so we’re just constantly looking at refining that. We’d like to have the most effective adviser toolkit on the market so that we’re an attractive place for people to want to run their client businesses.
“As far as adviser recruitment, that will be organic. We’re not looking at M&A, and more importantly, we are looking at staying within Western Australia. We do have a goal of how to service the region more effectively, so we’ve opened a small office in Albany,” she said.
“We’re looking at doing more down there, and we have some radio partnerships and the like through the Pilbara, and we’d like to be able to build on those, to be able to service regional West Australian communities.
Tandy added: “For us, it’s been about getting the proposition working really effectively, having the technology and the tools to support our advisors better offer that, and then increasing our presence in the region.”
