Shadforths’ ‘best advice project’ pays dividends

Victoria-based dealer group The Money Managers and WA-based advice business Keysbrook Financial Services have merged with Shadforths Financial Group.

It brings to 12 the number of firms to merge with Shadforths after participating in the ‘best advice project’, which was established by these firms last year as a best practice financial planning co-operative.

Shadforths effectively serves as the dealer group for the ‘best advice project’, which, in turn, serves as a sounding board for any firms aspiring to merge with the Tasmania-headquartered dealer group.

As with their predecessors, which merged with Shadforths on April 3, The Money Managers and Keysbrook have merged with Shadforths on a ‘share for share’ basis.

In exchange for their shares in their individual companies, directors of each of the 12 merged firms received a proportional level of shares in Shadforths.

The other Shadforths firms include Arnheim Gillard, Gannon Growden Schonell, Guest McLeod, Heraud Harrison, Douglas Wenck, Ellwood Barry McPherson, Kilkenny Rose, and Haintz.

The merger of The Money Managers and Keysbrook will add about $1.5 billion in funds under advice (FUA) to Shadforths’ existing FUA of about $8 billion, according to ‘best advice project’ chief executive Tony Fenning.

They will collectively bring Shadforths’ total complement of advisers to “between 140 and 150” — The Money Managers having 15 advisers and Keysbrook six — and push its total staff complement “beyond 300”, he said.

Meanwhile, Shadforths has signed an agreement with investment manager Dimensional Fund Advisors to launch three specific purpose wholesale trusts exclusively for Shadforths’ clients. The three funds are the Dimension Strategic global equities trust, Dimension Strategic Australian equities trust and the Dimension Strategic global property fund.

Dimensional will operate as the responsible entity as well as the investment manager, while Shadforths will act as a consultant to the vehicle, Fenning said.

“We participated in an advisory committee on these funds with Dimensional and have thus helped to design them in a way we believe is in the best interests for our clients. “So, it’s not a case of just having to offer someone else’s investment philosophy to clients, but actually being part of the development and the philosophy of our investment offering.”