Infocus acquires financial advice firm

Rod Bristow, Infocus managing director and chief executive, confirmed to ifa the group has acquired Caloundra, Queensland-based PWA Financial Services.

According to a statement, the Infocus Group Succession Plan was put in place in 2014 in response to adviser demand for a viable exit strategy. Since that time, five firms have been acquired, with Infocus owning 50 per cent of a sixth business.

“This is a natural complement to our extensive national dealer group operations. It helps advisers who are seeking to exit the industry or bring on a partner to help fund further growth, and allows us to diversify our group revenue model,” Mr Bristow said in the statement.

“We focus on advice businesses in major population and growth areas nationally. In the last 18 months, we have acquired two advice businesses in Melbourne, two in south-east Queensland (with our 50 per cent advice business shareholding also in this region) and one in Townsville.

“Our proprietary end-to-end CRM and financial planning management software, Platformplus, allows these businesses to be managed in a compliant, consistent way, delivering business efficiency and great client outcomes regardless of geography.”