FIA takes Securitor's Civic Financial Planning

Financial Index Australia (FIA) has nabbed one of Securitor’s biggest practices, Canberra-based Civic Financial Planning.

But Securitor isn't complaining - FIA recently consolidated all of its platforms onto Asgard, negotiating a rebate-free white label deal. As such, Civic’s $700 million in funds under management will not be lost to Asgard, and after seven years with Securitor the group received a fond farewell from chief Neil Younger.

FIA described Civic as one of the dominant advisory firms of the Australian Capital Territory, specialising in public sector super. Civic’s adviser owners, Dianne Dash, Tom Dawes, Howard Kemp, David McKay and Civic chairman and chief executive Bill Waller will remain with the business. Waller said one of the attractions of the merger was the succession plan it offered.

Financial Index chief executive, Spiro Paule, said many “large boutique” firms like Civic were facing complex succession planning issues. He pointed to the diversity of ownership and differing retirement objectives and time horizons of owners as complicating factors.

“The question of how the business is to be sold can be quite vexing,” Paule said.

Paule said FIA’s acquisition of Civic would allow the partners to “continue working for as long as they like in a full or part-time capacity knowing that their succession plan is locked away”.

Paule said the acquisition brings FIA to about $3 billion in funds under management (FUM), and about 30 advisers. While he would not disclose the purchase price Paule did say it was funded from FIA’s capital reserves.

Paule said the group had a number of other acquisition deals in the pipeline, which he hoped would be completed in the coming three to six months and which would deliver the group an additional $1 billion in FUM.