Aviva takes joint stake in dealer group
Aviva Australia and listed financial services conglomerate, Wide Bay Australia, have collectively acquired a controlling stake in a boutique Queensland dealer group, Financial Technology Securities.
The sale is due for completion this Wednesday and sees each company take a 25 per cent stake in the dealership, which targets middle aged wealth accumulators primarily located in South East Queensland and New South Wales.
Remaining shares in the dealer group are held by some of its 80 staff, including founder and managing director Geoff Putland, who will continue with the group as chief executive until a successor can be appointed.
Wide Bay Australia managing director Geoff Hancock said Putland would also remain on the board as chairman for at least five years to help with business continuity. Other operations within the group would continue as normal.
Aviva Australia chief executive officer Allan Griffiths said he was conscious of maintaining the characteristics of the dealer group that had made it successful.
“Aviva’s model is to support the growth and development of successful financial planning groups. We expect both Wide Bay and ourselves will be able to lend our proven skills to the Financial Technology team,” he said.
Griffiths said Aviva had also been impressed by Wide Bay’s business model and looked forward to working the Bundaberg-based company.
“Together with the staff who continue to hold equity in Financial Technology, we expect this will be a very exciting partnership based around taking the business to the next level,” Griffiths said.
Financial Technology Securities has used Aviva’s Navigator platform since the business started up, and also uses Wide Bay Australia as a preferred lender.
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.
