Pac Rim aims high
Pacific Rim Investments has unveiled ambitious plans to take over the mantle of Australia’s biggest independent financial planning group.
Pacific Rim Investments has unveiled ambitious plans to take over the mantle of Australia’s biggest independent financial planning group.
The listed investment vehicle has already amassed 500 financial advisers but in-tends to double that number in the next 18 months.
Managing director Garry Crole has told Money Management the group intends to buy medium sized dealer groups in New South Wales and Queensland to add to its strong positions in Victoria and Western Australia.
Evidence of the strategy came out last week when Pacific Rim announced the ac-quisition of WA-based Personal Financial Planners for $1.75 million. The purchase adds $185 million under advice and more than 10 advisers to Pacific Rim’s WA operations, which includes the 100 advisers who formerly made up the Platinum Group.
PFP will now come under the Deakin Financial Planning banner, the name fol-lowed by all the other financial planning groups bought by Pacific Rim in the past two years. This includes the Money Planners, the outfit started up by Garry Crole 12 years ago, and the Victorian operations of the Mawson Group.
Crole says Pacific Rim will concentrate its acquisition strategy on dealer groups who are looking to develop as a part of a larger group.
“We are not going to buy dealer groups searching for an exit strategy for their owners retirement. We want groups that are looking to grow alongside Deakin,” he says.
To complement the growth in advisers, Pacific Rim has also developed a number of services to be distributed through the network including general insurance4, health insurance, finance broking, share broking and residential property.
On top of buying financial planning groups, Pacific Rim is also looking to build a substantial customer base outside of the customers already serviced by its team of advisers. It has set up alliances with a number of AFL clubs in Victoria to supply financial advice to its members and has launched an online retailing service called Ozzieshopper. Crole says the group is aiming to have 1,000,000 clients
Pacific Rim Investment is to buy West Australian-based dealer group Personal Fi-nancial Planners for $1.75 million.
The acquisition will be funded over three years by a cash payment in the first year of $1 million, and cash/script payments of the balance in the second and third years, subject to the achievement of revenue targets.
Personal Financial Planners is Pacific Rim's second WA purchase in a year. It has funds under advice exceeding $185 million and revenue streams of more than $2.7 million.
Personal Financial planners brings to the group an exclusive wrap account service that will complement national distribution.
Pacific Rim’s other Perth businesses of Deakin Financial Planning and The Plati-num Group will relocate to the offices of Personal Financial Planners. Both Per-sonal Financial Planners and The Platinum Group will join Money Planners Aus-tralia, Mawson (Vic), Deakin Property and Gillon Securities as part of the re-branded Deakin Financial Services Group.
On top of financial planning, Deakin provides residential and commercial property investments, life and general insurance, finance and stock broking.
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