Betashares buys ticket on the managed accounts train

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

15 July 2025

ANALYSIS

The degree to which managed accounts have moved closer to the centre of the Australian wealth matrix has been underlined by the BetaShares transaction with InvestSense to form a new entity, Trellia Wealth Partners.

The move needs to be seen against the background of February’s announcement by Generation Development Group to acquire Evidentia Group for round $320 million and then to initiate a restructure which accommodates but separates its research and ratings business, Lonsec.

It is worth noting that the BetaShares move also comes almost exactly a year after Singapore-based global investment house, Temasek invested $300 m illion in Betashares giving it a seat at the table alongside global private equity player, TA Associates.

At the time of the Temasek investment, BetaShares founder and chief executive, Alex Vynokur pointed to his firm’s success in becoming a leading player in the exchange traded funds (ETF) environment and flagged extending the firm’s presence across more products and services.

The creation of Trellia Wealth Partners looks to be a more modest approach than beimg driven by GDG via Evidentia but it comes to the market with around $8 billion in funds under management and with the continuing commitment of the InvestSense team.

The announcement of the transaction makes clear that Trellia will “operate as a standalone business, backed by the strength and scale of the Betashares Financial Group.

Explaining the strategy, the announcement said “Trellia Wealth Partners will deliver a leading range of investment solutions across Betashares’ low cost, index-based model portfolios, InvestSense’s actively managed flagship portfolios, as well as fully bespoke portfolio solutions.

“Trellia Wealth Partners will provide comprehensive business support services to enable advice firms to accelerate their growth strategies.

“Going beyond traditional practice management, Trellia Wealth Partners will also provide technology and tools to enhance business efficiency and empower advice firms to deliver a greater client experience. In addition, clients will have access to business strategy consulting, organic growth and acquisition support, as well as best in class portfolio insights, reporting, client engagement content and commentary, which financial advisers can leverage to deliver better outcomes for their clients.”

“InvestSense Directors Jonathan Tolub, Jonathan Ramsay, Fil Andronaco and Paul Carrington will serve as Partners and have all made a long-term commitment to the business,” the announcement said.

The reasoning behind the Betashares InvestSense transaction is almost identical to that which underpinned GDG’s investment in Evidentia Group – the managed accounts growth story.

“Managed accounts are currently one of the fastest-growing areas in Australian financial services. According to the Institute of Managed Account Professionals (IMAP), the sector reached $232.77 billion in assets as of 31 December 2024 – a nearly 50% increase from the previous year.

“Trellia Wealth Partners expects the strong rate of growth in the managed accounts industry to continue over the next decade and beyond.”