Sequoia advisers switch to rival Centrepoint

Centrepoint Alliance is among this week’s largest adviser gains, with the licensee gaining two from rival Sequoia Financial Group.

In this week’s Wealth Data numbers to 20 March, both Centrepoint Alliance and Macquarie Group saw gains of three advisers each. 

In the case of Centrepoint Alliance, the firm appointed two from Sequoia-owned InterPrac, one from Strategic Solutions and one new entrant, then lost one to Charter Financial. 

Sequoia was down by three advisers, one of which went to Centrepoint Alliance and one to Advocate Advisory, while the third is yet to be appointed elsewhere.

Wealth Data clarified that the second InterPrac adviser to join Centrepoint Alliance may have left InterPrac during a preceding week. 

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At the start of 2024, Centrepoint Alliance had 520 advisers which rose by 39 to 559 by the end of the year. Sequoia had 343 advisers at the start of the year, but numbers slightly declined during the year to end with 337. 

Wealth Data founder, Colin Williams, said: “Centrepoint Alliance has been ticking along nicely, slowly gaining advisers here and there, and they have done so without the need for any major inorganic growth. Meanwhile, Sequoia has taken a hit and lost a bit of momentum.”

Last year, Money Management covered how brokers believed Centrepoint Alliance had a greater ability to retain advisers than its rivals. 

Brokers at Veritas said: “The majors are distracted – AMP, Insignia has integrated MLC, banks have all fled, and even the high-quality merger of Diverger and Count will keep them internally focused.

“Centrepoint operates in a market with major competitors struggling to hold onto advisers, and many distracted by various issues. We believe Centrepoint is far better able to recruit and retain advisers than others.”

Centrepoint Alliance shares are up by 4.8 per cent over one year to 20 March, while Sequoia is down by 30 per cent over the same period.

Earlier this week, Money Management reported that Sequoia had hired former IOOF chief executive, Chris Kelaher, in a consultative capacity after a difficult 2024.  

A group of shareholders attempted to push Sequoia chief executive Garry Crole and director Kevin Pattison from the board and replace them with Peter Brook and Brent Jones. The disruption impacted operating momentum, caused unrest among employees and advisers, and resulted in additional costs to maintain businesses and staff throughout the period, it said.

An extraordinary general meeting was held on 5 June, but the shareholders were unsuccessful in their bid. 

During his time at IOOF, Kelaher was active in the M&A space and oversaw multiple acquisitions, including the acquisition of ANZ OnePath, which posited the question of whether Sequoia will participate in the current M&A activity affecting financial advice. 

Regarding overall moves during the week, the industry saw gains of two to bring total adviser numbers to 15,579. Some 23 licensee owners had net gains of 29 advisers, while 21 licensee owners had net losses of 29. There were four new entrants, the lowest volume of new entrants year-to-date. 

Macquarie Group saw gains of three, all of whom came back after a break from Macquarie Bank. Lifestyle Asset Management and Hive Group were both up by two, and a tail of 19 licensee owners including Mercer and Advice Evolution were up by one. 

Ferdinand FFP Ultimate was down by three, all of whom moved to Connectus AFSL. Capstone, Entireti & Akumin, Perpetual, and Shartru were all down by two advisers, and a tail of 15 licensee owners were down by one, including Count, Infocus and PSK.