M&A

A merger that would have created the third largest licensee is cancelled.

With a long list of economic headwinds having hammered global growth and dampened investor confidence, the upcoming (second-quarter) US reporting season is going to be an interesting one.

Australia’s leading ethical investment manager, Australian Ethical, is set to grow its already significant $6.2 billion in assets under management after formalising a partnership with Christian Super.

Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) is planning to offload its banking business to that it can better focus on its main business, its insurance arm, in an attempt to improve returns and value for shareholders.

Centrepoint Alliance this week announced it had received a non-binding indicative offer from Diverger Limited to acquire all the shares in the company.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd and Global X ETFs this week announced the acquisition of ETF Securities, a pioneer of exchange traded funds both in Australia and around the world.

Leading sustainable investment manager Australian Ethical has recruited a number of industry veterans for its investment committee as it enters merger talks with Christian Super. Sean Henaghan, former CIO of AMP’s Multi-Asset Group and current CIO of Aurora Capital, will join Australian Ethical’s investment committee. Also joining are Sandra McCullagh, current non-executive director (NED) of…

One of Australia’s fastest growing wealth management and financial advisory firms, Akambo Financial Group, this week announced a merger with Melbourne-based First Financial, effective immediately. The group will combine to manage more than $3 billion on behalf of a diverse range of clients. It marks one of the most significant deals in the financial services…

Following on from the Banking Royal Commission of 2017-18, the growing popularity of boutique independent financial advisers has grown consistently, with clients seeing value in advisers that are building strong personal relationships and providing a consistent high-quality service to their clients. Boutique advisory firms typically have a niche area of expertise where they can differentiate…

Leading responsible and sustainable investment manager Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) this week announced their intention to merge with industry fund Christian Super. If completed, the combined entity would manage some $9 billion and serve around 100,000 members across the country. Christian Super, and similar religious-leaning super funds were some of the earliest adopters of the ESG…

Asset manager Perpetual has made a bold $2.4 billion takeover bid for asset manager Pendal, which it says would create a “leader in the Australian asset management market”, and analysts are upbeat on the deal, with some saying a higher bid could emerge. Perpetual has launched a conditional, non-binding proposal to buy 100 per cent…

The financial advisory market is set to have a new leader when measured by financial adviser headcount, with WT Financial Group’s decision to acquire licensee company Synchron set to create the “largest non-institutionally-owned financial adviser network”. Completion of the deal, which an announcement to the ASX indicated was for consideration of up to $7.96 million,…