HP JDV posts quarter losses
The September quarter result for financial services group HPJDVhas been dragged down by its wealth management division, with the group recording a before tax loss of $4.5 million across all its four businesses in the first three months of this financial year.
The first quarter result for HP JDV, formed as part of a joint venture between Hartley Poynton and JDV, follows the group’s previous loss of $17.182 million for the year ending June 30.
Hardest hit of the HP JDV businesses was the 200 advisor strong wealth management division, which recorded a $3.3 million loss for the September quarter.
In a company announcement Hartley Poynton wealth management head David Craig says the results were attributed to what was the quietest quarter for a number of years for the wealth management division, due to the global threat of recession and negative consumer sentiment.
While the business did see growth in its Echelon portfolio service and Meridian master trust, as well as continued recruitment of advisors, Craig says key for business growth was scale.
“The wealth management division continues to need more scale, especially during quiet trading periods. An expanded business would properly leverage the investment in a national branch network and the commitment to training,” Craig says.
“Wealth management remains committed to our strategy and will continue to seek scale from both hiring advisors and making quality acquisitions amongst financial planning practices and stockbroking businesses.”
Also recording losses for the September quarter was Hartley Poynton Investment Bank, losing $490,000, and the group’s outsourcing business, JDV Outsourcing, which lost $780,000. According to head of JDV Outsourcing Geoff Reilly, that business remains on track to become profitable in the second half of the financial year.
JDV Technology was the only business division to post a profit, achieving $70,000.
HP JDV chief executive officer Tim Moore referred to the September quarter as ‘character building’ and pointed to the recent $25.75 million capital injection from Westpac , who became an equal shareholder in HP JDV with the Royal Bank of Canada in mid September, as a key to taking the group forwards.
“Westpac subscribing $25.75 million to become an equal shareholder in HP JDV to Royal Bank of Canada leaves the company well positioned to grow its wealth management, technology and outsourcing businesses,” he says.
Recommended for you
In this episode of Relative Return Unplugged, hosts Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and Keith Ford are joined by special guest Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP, to break down what’s happening with the Trump trade and the broader global economy, and what it means for Australia.
In this episode, hosts Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and Keith Ford take a look at what’s making news in the investment world, from President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominations to Cbus fronting up to a Senate inquiry.
In this new episode of The Manager Mix, host Laura Dew speaks with Claire Smith, head of private assets sales at Schroders, to discuss semi-liquid global private equity.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew speaks with Eric Braz, MFS portfolio manager on the global small and mid-cap fund, the MFS Global New Discovery Strategy, to discuss the power of small and mid-cap investing in today’s global markets.
