Prosperous ex-pats are the latest focus for Australia's largest independently-owned advisory firm, Centric Wealth.
Advisers David Suthons and Greg Middleton have established an expatriate services division, which already has a dozen clients.
Middleton is currently overseas visiting Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing to drum up trade. There are 1 million Australians living overseas with a further 80,000 leaving each year.
Suthons has experienced the need for ex-pat financial advice, having been poorly serviced while working in South Africa and the UK.
"I found it extremely expensive and not worth the money. It's a really tricky area and [people] need to talk to a specialist about it," said Suthons, who has been an adviser for six years.
"There are really significant opportunities for ex-pats and they really need to get advice . . . or they will earn it over there, spend it over there, then come home and say: 'where did it all go?'"
The division has had training in the technical, accountancy and taxation implications of living abroad. Specialist expatriate advisory skills include understanding capital gains tax implications across investment assets while abroad and whether it is advantageous to become an expatriate for tax purposes.
Centric Wealth is focused on Asia, but has clients in the USA, UK, Asia and the Middle East. Its clients also include people ready to disembark and those who have returned.
The firm has $3.7 billion in assets under advice and 46 advisers.
