Joseph Darby could be excused for having a wee skip in his step.
He has just successfully merged his 10-year-old company Milestone Direct with Become.nz to form Become Wealth, creating one of the few 100% New Zealand-owned financial service providers with no ties to specific product, or product provider. Fundamentally that independence means it can offer its clients the product it thinks best suits their needs.
Joseph had no sooner dried the ink on that deal, when the new entity then acquired the books of a couple of “baby boomer” advisers who were looking to retire.
And he is not stopping there: “Become Wealth, as we are now known, is rolling up the businesses of several more advisers who want to retire rather than face recent changes in financial markets, regulations and the need for additional scale and specialisation.”
Joseph, who retains his CEO role, says the merger and acquisitions will assist with strong future growth and build upon Become Wealth’s nearly $1 billion in funds under advice, including those managed under a Discretionary Investment Management Service (DIMS) licence.
Become Wealth has as clients major NZX and ASX-listed companies, a government department, medical professionals through the Medcapital brand, and around 17,000 individual clients.
The company is headquartered at the B:HIVE, with staff in Christchurch, Queenstown, Australia, and the Philippines.