Wealth segment bolsters CountPlus’ strong performance in 1H23
CountPlus has noted an 8% rise in reported revenue along with welcoming 31 net new advisers in the first half of the financial year.
Announcing its results to the Australian Securities Exchange for the six months to 31 December, 2022, CountPlus noted $8.4 million of its reported revenue of $45.5 million (adjusted EBITA performance) came from its wealth segment.
Reported EBITA of the wealth segment was +99% to $1.4 million, “demonstrating business has transitioned to new model without grandfathered revenue”, the firm noted.
It recorded growth of 13% in Count Financial advisers from 1H22 to 1H23 compared to an industry reduction of 14% from FY21 to FY22. Prospective advisers rose from 156 to 166.
CountPlus also announced that it would discontinue the operations of Wealth Axis, which provided outsourced paraplanning and administration services to financial planning and accounting firms.
It had acquired a majority stake in Wealth Axis in May 2021.
Due to this discontinuation of operations, CountPlus recognised a non-cash impairment of $1.4 million.
Still, the firm reiterated its commitment to its profitable services strategy, which reported revenue of $3.6 million, an increase of 125% from 1H22 revenue of $1.6M. This figure would include reported Accurium revenue in 1H22 of 2 months from acquisition date.
Per the ASX announcement, the CountPlus and Count Financial network included 3,513 people in 138 firms.
AUTHOR
Rhea Nath
Recommended for you
Bennelong Funds Management chief executive John Burke has told Money Management that the firm is seeking to invest in boutiques in two specific asset classes as it identifies gaps in its product range.
Responsible investment performance concerns have lessened as the market hits $1.6 trillion in AUM, according to RIAA’s annual report, but greenwashing fears among asset managers are on the rise.
Research by Morningstar has found fixed income funds are bucking a general trend around managed fund fee dispersion with a smaller fee dispersion compared to equity ones.
As investors seek to diversify their portfolios, the naming of bond labels has broadened out to include green, social and impact bonds, according to the annual RIAA report.
