Infocus to acquire Madison Financial Group
Darren Steinhardt’s Infocus Wealth Management is to acquire Madison Financial Group from Clime Investment Management.
Clime has announced it has signed an exclusive, binding heads of agreement with Infocus outlining the sale of Madison with the transaction due to complete by 3 June.
The transaction will see Infocus increase group financial adviser numbers to more than 200 whilst boosting funds under advice to around $16 billion and growing in-force insurance premiums to a total of $210 million.
Commenting on the transaction, Infocus founder and managing director, Darren Steinhardt said he had been familiar with the Madison business for some time, having engaged with the former and current leaders of the business over the past 20 years.
“Madison is a quality advisory network with quality financial advisers who represent well the expected high standards of practitioners in the evolving financial advisory profession. We’re proud to have been chosen by Clime as their partner in this transaction and the entire Infocus community is genuinely looking forward towelcoming everyone from the Madison network into our fold.”
“This acquisition represents a milestone for Infocus. It’s our objective to grow, not for growths sake, but for the commercial and risk management benefits that additional scale brings to each and every stakeholder within our business and our community. We have no desire to be the largest, our desire is simply to be the best, and to work with the best. This acquisition takes us closer to this objective,” Steinhardt said.
Clime Investment Management chief executive, Annick Donat said the firm had worked in close alignment with Infocus over several months to ensure Madison found the right home.
“Infocus will be excellent custodians of the Madison business. It is clear there is strong cultural and strategic alignment between the firms, and they have an outstanding track record of supporting financial advisers. Clime will work closely with Infocus to ensure a seamless transition, including the use of the group’s dealer-to-dealer services, and longer term we will collaborate to drive mutual success and unlock further revenue opportunities.”
The statement said the partnership between Clime and Infocus will continue to flourish outside of this sale, with the Clime Private Wealth advice business set to work closely with the Infocus team via the engagement of the Infocus B2D (or dealer support services) solution.
Gradually moving back to a situation where 80% of advice firms are owned or licensed by larger companies selling inhouse product.
So Dealer Groups / AFSLs have very little value ?
$2 mill for how many Madison Advisers and FUM?
Institutional licensees are dead in the water hence in-house platform, product and CRM being the profit drivers. From what I heard, they are struggling and had a to cut a heap of of people
One shark/predator eating another smaller shark…hilarious photo.
As we know most Licensees are operating at a loss and looking at exiting that model but maintain influence E.G AMP equity partners where they are trying to, or now sit on the boards of FP firms that have large FUM in my north and are profitable.
I suspect this scramble to buy is lust ditch effort to secure a similar type of result for those licensee’s that can also see the writing on the wall.