Consumer trust isn’t something to be taken for granted, but reports from the UK, US and here at home are all pointing towards an uplift in trust levels around financial advice, which can only be a welcome development.
There are significant tailwinds behind the financial advice industry at the moment, but some major obstacles are still preventing advice practices from taking advantage of surging demand according to a new study from CFS.
CountPlus mulls downsizing company name in latest market move
Acquisitive accounting and advice group CountPlus will change its name to merely ‘Count’, if a proposal being put to share holders is approved in an extraordinary general meeting in its Chifley Square offices on May 4.
The converged services entity sent a notice of the meeting to the ASX announcing the proposed change, which CountPlus believes “better reflects the nature of its operations as a whole and will facilitate improved understanding by the market of the company’s strategy”.
If approved, the change will become effective as soon as ASIC updates its company register. The new entity, Count Limited, will continue to trade under the ASX ticker ‘CUP’.
“The company proposes to change its name from CountPlus Limited to Count Limited to align and capture the operations as a whole and will facilitate improved understanding by the market of the company’s strategy,” the note to the ASX stated.
“The name change, brand transformation and value proposition is to deliver on the ambition of a single strong, clear brand that differentiates the company and resonates with employees, investors, business partners and clients.”
The move comes after a sustained period of growth and change for the company under former chief executive Matthew Rowe, who famously purchased Commonwealth Bank’s Count Financial AFSL for $2.5 million in mid-2019 after it was sold to CBA by founder Barry Lambert for $373 million in 2011.
That upward trajectory has been maintained by new boss (and ex-Count Financial executive) Hugh Humphrey (pictured), who took the reigns in May, 2022. The new CEO took an axe to underperforming asset, paraplanning and back-office service Wealth Axis, in February this year, then purchased AFSL Affinia Financial Advisers a few weeks later.
After the Affinia purchase, CountPlus came to represent approximately 400 advisers and just over $16.8 billion in client funds under management.
