Having rebranded as Shaw and Partners and hired former Macquarie Private wealth chief executive, Earl Evans, in February 2015, chairman Paul Masi said the move represents a part of the company’s expansion into the financial advice industry.
“Our new head of private wealth, Earl Evans, has already signed 15 quality practitioners during the past three months alone and more are in the pipeline,” Mr Masi said.
“This high number of advisers is validation that more and more advisers from other practices, across Australia, recognise the benefits of being part of Shaw and Partners.
“We are also very close to appointing a new head of our institutional business,” he said.
Mr Masi added there will be considerable attention paid to minimising conflicts of interest within the advice business and the firm’s teams will be focused on providing holistic and non-aligned financial services.
“Our strong compliance regime and our cautious approach to organisational growth means we have not seen some of the issues being experienced across the rest of the industry,” he said.
“Our teams are non-aligned and do not push products. We have a business model that aims to minimise any conflicts of interest. This sets down a solid base for our ongoing and successful partnership with our teams and clients,” Mr Masi said.
The same fellow who speared Macquarie with the enforceable undertaking from ASIC? And the same chap who sank several hundred million $AUS in Canada a few years ago, doing exactly the same thing: Rapidly expanding and overpaying for mercenary advisors who will never make up the cost of signing them on? If I were a Shaw shareholder, I would pay attention to how much is spent on this expansion against the actual return to the firm. Shaw was barely profitable last year, I would bet they’re in the red now from this ‘expansion’.