Count CEO Hugh Humphrey takes a look back on how the firm has grown from its “subscale” position to Australia’s second-largest advice licensee.
Humphrey was appointed as chief executive of the integrated advice and accounting business over two years ago when he commenced in the position on 1 July 2022, following Matthew Rowe’s departure.
Prior to joining Count, Humphrey previously worked at two of the big four banks and held a six-year stint at AMP as director.
Speaking on a recent Netwealth podcast, Humphrey reflected on the size of Count when he first entered the business some 25 months ago.
“When I came in, it was a terrific business but a bit subscale. We knew it needed to get bigger. We listed but [were] really not big enough to be listed,” he explained.
With the majority of the firm’s earnings generated from the two streams of accountancy and financial planning in the past, the CEO highlighted his vision to diversify Count’s services. Now, the firm offers additional capabilities such as auditing, actuarial certificates, finance lending and developmental training.
“I knew we needed to diversify the business and our revenue streams. The growth plans and what we have delivered over the last couple years have been really aligned around using the assets that we have to grow out. We’ve now got three really strong segments of equity firms, wealth and our services businesses.”
One of the first Count deals under Humphrey’s leadership was its acquisition of financial advice business Affinia from TAL in May 2023 which saw approximately 100 advisers join Count at the time.
Earlier that month, Count had announced a name change and new brand direction, with an overwhelming 99.94 per cent of shareholder votes cast in favour of a name change to Count Limited from CountPlus Limited.
The chief executive added: “We know how to deliver services out to financial planning businesses and accounting firms, and we’re doing that now really well through our three segments. Yeah, we’ve moved quickly. I think we had to move quickly.
“At the same time, [there has been] a lot of disruption across the financial services landscape and a lot of consolidation activity, particularly in advice at the moment and also in accounting.”
Following the industry fragmentation caused by the Hayne royal commission, taking advantage of rising M&A activity has been a clear opportunity for Count, Humphrey said.
“We saw a real opportunity to strengthen the business by looking at acquiring and merging with like-minded businesses – of course the most notable being Diverger and we’re thrilled with that.”
Count’s acquisition of Diverger, arguably the most significant deal in Humphrey’s two years, was completed on 1 March 2024. It combined 590 accountants and more than 550 financial advisers, making it Australia’s second-largest licensee with $29.9 billion in funds under advice at the time.
Come 2025, Count is expected to still hold its position at number two with 682 advisers, with the recent Entireti-AMP deal sitting in first place at nearly double with 1,314 advisers once the sale is completed.
Beyond TAL and Diverger, Count has also announced several smaller acquisitions through its equity firms. Humphrey added that the firm is poised for further growth on the horizon.
“Our trajectory is to stay true to our beliefs and our purpose, but build a bigger business that can generate better returns for our shareholders and start to really make being listed work for the business.
“It’s super exciting to know what we’ll do next. We’ve got all the moving parts, we’re in the right space, and I think you’ll see us really take advantage of that over the next few years.”
