Tolhurst sells funds management interests

Share-broking and financial planning groupTolhurst Noallhas sold its 50 per cent stake in Tolhurst Funds Management along with all remaining shareholders to Wright Global Asset Management (WGAM), and will now focus on growing its broking business.

“We’re focussing on developing our advisory business in shares, given the turnaround and a much stronger stock market over the last six to nine months, which has been long over due,” Tolhurst Noall managing director and chief executive John Wilson says.

Wilson says the group was approached by WGAM, which made an offer for its stake in the Albury-based funds management firm amounting to a two part payment of close to $2 million.

The breakdown of consideration paid to Tolhurst by WGAM amounts to $1 million at the point of sale followed by another payment of about $1 million 12 months later and subject to certain circumstances, such as level of funds under management and insurance product income.

Wilson took over at the helm of the Melbourne-based group back in March following a decision by the then-incumbent chief executive, Ian Johnson, to leave having spent 20 of his 40 year history with Tolhurst as head of the group.

Tolhurst Noall, which also has a number of small minority holdings in a collection of financial planning practices, was spawned out of the merger of Tolhurst Securities and the Noall Group back in 2001.