WHK Group has announced it will take a 30 per cent shareholding in Next Financial Limited in a strategic move to better service high income earners.
Privately-owned investment manager Next Financial will receive an undisclosed cash sum, $5 million in investment and 1.4 million WHK Group shares in the deal. The agreement will be effective from May 15.
The move will better service high income earners as opposed to high net worth clients, who are already well accommodated by the WHK Group financial planning network, according to managing director Kevin White.
Next Financial specialises in providing individually managed accounts to high net worth clients and is a leader in the separately managed accounts sector, with more than $250 million invested.
It has client assets and liabilities of $1.9 billion, more than 3000 clients and 70 staff in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
"It will be business as usual for Next Financial with no change in strategic direction, the management team of business operations. We believe the strategic relationship with WHK, which is not exclusive, will provide us access to a new broad-based Australian and New Zealand client base," managing director Peter Kennedy said.
White will join Kennedy on the board of Next Financial which also includes executive chairman Peter Warne and executive director and chief operating officer Brian Fowler.
In another step towards raising the group's profile with high net worth individuals among other goals, WHK Group has announced a strategic partnership with top 10 global accounting affiliation Horwath International.
Horwath International has more than 120 accounting and management consulting firms in 400 cities across the world.
The strategic partnership will help attract and retain key employees through better career prospects, generate new client referrals from overseas links and give local clients a global service capability.
WHK Group's Sydney and Melbourne firms will change their names to WHK Horwath from July 1.
WHK Group has 20 member firms across Australia and New Zealand, comprising 19 accounting firms and one financial planning business.
