Consultum Financial Advisers (Consultum) has revised its acquisition strategy, with the firm exploring the possibility of making an acquisition in the next six months.
If the right acquisition opportunity came along, the IOOF-owned dealer group would push ahead with a transaction, Consultum head Stuart Abley told InvestorDaily.
"From our point of view, we are always on the lookout for a quality acquisition... but nothing has come across our radar in recent times," Abley said.
"We are having another look at it now and we are interested in an acquisition. So if we could find something of quality that measures up over the next six months, we would definitely move forward on it."
Consultum's preference for potential acquisitions would be for small to mid-size advisory groups, Abley said.
"We will look at individual practices as well. We believe we have a very healthy business model that accommodates their needs because we have a fairly wide, approved product list and... a lot of choice around platform support," he said.
While solid opportunities are yet to present themselves, Abley said the current market downturn should provide a number of quality acquisitions heading into the new year.
Consultum's decision to rethink its acquisition stance comes as the firm realises its solid market position.
"From the market point of view we are doing well. We are just helping our advisers keep the client fears at bay. They are working with their clients the best they can," Abley said.
Consultum has 115 advisers across 60 practices.
