MFS adds another planning practice to NZ stable
MFS has announced it will acquire Colin Strang Financial Planning, a boutique advisory firm based in New Zealand’s South Island city of Dunedin.
This latest acquisition closely follows the investment and financial services group’s purchase of the Northplan Group and Swain Financial Services, and marks a further step in MFS’ strategy to create an integrated advisory firm united under a single brand and spanning the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
Within Australia, MFS is a diversified financial services provider with no financial planning operations and no immediate plans to move into this field domestically.
MFS owns 40 per cent of MFS New Zealand, which also incorporates the large finance company MFS Pacific Finance and a significant property trust component.
The new acquisition also coincides with an MFS quarterly announcement that indicates its fee-paying assets under funds management have increased to around $4.49 billion. This fits with the firm’s target of $5 billion in assets under funds management by June 30, 2007.
The addition of Strang to the MFS stable brings the total value of its New Zealand-based operations to NZ$900 million in assets under funds management, spread across over 5,000 clients within the region.
MFS New Zealand is currently re-branding its entire financial advisory business to Vestar Investment Specialists.
According to Jason Maywald, chief executive of MFS New Zealand, Strang will also be merged into Vestar and the existing MFS New Zealand business.
The contract between MFS and Strang was signed yesterday, with settlement of the deal expected to take place within the next week.
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