Advice firms EWM and Blue Harbour merge

Financial planning firms Eureka Whittaker MacNaught (EWM) and Blue Harbour Financial Partners have announced a merger.

The two firms, which are part of AZ-NGA, said the move was aimed at delivering scale and efficiency benefits and would result in an entity which will employ 32 people including 14 financial advisers across five locations.

The announcement said that the two firms would continue to trade under their current brands in the short term.

Commenting on the merger, EWM chief executive, Greg Cook said it united two high quality, like-minded businesses of comparable size to form a large, integrated firm with significant scale, capability and capacity.

The combined entity will have one management team, under the leadership of Cook and General Manager Sally Bell.

Todd Hitchcock, Chief Executive of Blue Harbour, said the group’s merger with EWM would deliver many benefits to employees, advisers and clients including a stable, experienced management team.

“I’ll still be involved in the business and I’m always thinking about the future to ensure that the business will be around for a long time to serve our people and our clients,” Hitchcock said.