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One of Australia’s biggest privately owned financial planning firms has all but confirmed a move into mortgage broking, with the firm planning to acquire an aggregator.
Yesterday, Custom Wealth Solutions confirmed to The Adviser’s sister publication IFA that it intended to acquire one of Australia’s “independent” aggregators.
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While the firm would not disclose which aggregation group it was planning to acquire, group founder and chief executive Chris Appleyard said the aggregator currently had approximately 150 mortgage brokers.
"[We have] looked to move into mortgage aggregation via an acquisition and merger with an independent aggregator - which inherently means the group has attracted another 150 brokers, exceeding 250 representatives across financial planning, accountancy and mortgage broking,” Mr Appleyard told IFA.
This acquisition would fail to surprise many in the industry, with many predicting greater convergence between planners and mortgage brokers.
Earlier this month, Centurion’s Chris Wrightson told The Adviser that he expects to see more brokerages adding financial planning to their range of services, and planners vice versa.
“I do expect to see a lot more information sharing between these two industries.”
Mr Wrightson said he had already started facilitating partnerships between planners and mortgage brokers as it makes “business sense” for one advisory company to offer both solutions.
“While I don’t expect to see one person offer both services, one company certainly will. It is a good cultural fit and it is what borrowers want.”
