Advice firm expands team as demand increases

Established in December 2023, the firm specialises in managing high-net-worth (HNW) clients, taking an education-based approach to delivering advice. Freshwater Wealth has now welcomed two new advisers and partners, Paul Oesterheld and Archana Bhatia, to its ranks as the demand for service increases.

Before joining Freshwater in June, Oesterheld was a senior financial adviser at Viridian Advisory for almost five years. Prior to that, he held a number of roles during his almost 25 years at Westpac Private Bank, most recently as an executive financial planner.

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Bhatia, who joined Freshwater in July, was previously a principal and senior adviser and the head of wealth management at Financial Decisions. Prior to that position, she also worked at Westpac as a senior financial adviser for almost 20 years and was a partner and senior financial adviser at BT Financial.

Citing the intergenerational wealth transfer that is set to see $3.5 trillion change hands, the firm said it has seen an increase in demand for its services, particularly within families, as 15 per cent of referrals to the business are now coming from existing clients.

Founder and partner Roger Perrett said the firm is prioritising building relationships with family members set to receive assets from their existing clients, strengthening the adviser–client relationship.

“The average age of our clients is 60–70 years and their parents are 80–90 years. Our clients are grappling with their parents’ diagnoses as well as dementia or [Alzheimer’s disease] and are looking for help around powers of attorney, transferring wealth, and ensuring their care,” Perrett said.

“Multigenerational relationships across families has become very important to us, getting to know the next layer of families and all the issues that involves, especially health.”

Perrett noted the importance of a client’s will as a tool to understand the interpersonal issues that may exist within a family to help inform future decisions for the client.

“Wills sort out who the black sheep is in the family and often provides an up-to-date indicator on family relationships, health status and future plans,” he said.

“Intergenerational wealth transfer bring with it a host of issues and requires relationships with more than just the client who sits in front of you.”

Established in December 2023, the advice firm received high demand early on leading to the addition of two partners, Jonathan Harris and Dean Fuchs, and a senior associate, Queenie Shen.

Perrett attributed his early success to the “perfect storm” of improved financial education and awareness of Baby Boomers as they approach retirement, the strong demand for advice, and the lack of advisers available to service them.

“Demand is extremely high and there is a huge opportunity with retirees, women, and those who have inherited money or who are facing an illness, to provide a service that focuses on achieving clients’ goals and maximising available opportunities but also solve potential problems,” he said in May.