CountPlus chair, Ray Kellerman, backs his horse

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

15 March 2023

Squizzy always admires a public company chairman who is prepared to back their own strategies, even if the analysts don’t appear to be that fussed.

So, he tips his cap to the fact that just days after announcing the acquisition of risk-focussed licensee, Affinia, from major life insurer, TAL, CountPlus chair, Ray Kellerman, topped up his shareholding in the company.

According to the CountPlus notification to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Kellerman picked up a further 50,000 fully paid ordinary shares for a comparatively modest $29,550 to bring his total holding in the company to 3 million shares.

With the expectation of lots of merger and acquisition activity in the financial planning licensee space over coming months, Squizzy sees Kellerman’s increased shareholding as the equivalent of having a modest bet, perhaps even an each-way bet.

It is one thing to back your own stable, it is another thing entirely when you reap a dividend from a long-odds outsider.