Expansion of North Shore mortgage business

While adviceHQ will absorb much of Money Planners business, founder Miles Flower will continue to own and operate the investment management side of the company.

adviceHQ founder David Green says his firm has the capacity and support team to take on the new business without having to hire another adviser.

Money Planners decision to sell part of its business came about through a family friendship between advicehq adviser Ben Presling and Flower. “Over the years they realised they share the same philosophy – putting clients first and giving clear advice,” Green says.

“Because of the relationship, buying the business has always been in the pipeline. It was just a matter of timing, when Miles wanted to wind part of his business down so he could focus more on family and the other side of his firm.”

Flower, who has been in the financial advice industry since the 1980s, has ridden through three financial crashes over the past four decades. It has taught him the need for patience and the importance of a balanced, unbiased long-term view when it comes to investing or the future.

Green says he has considered adding investment and wealth management to his firm’s bow, but it would need a full-time specialist.

“Realistically we are busy looking after clients on the mortgage, insurance and KiwiSaver side of the equation and if we were to go down that track, we would need somebody with the expertise to stay up to play with the stock markets, currencies and interest rate plays.

He does concede it can be done well. His view is there are synergies there, depending on the size of the business. If a mortgage business is small and doesn’t have many clients, an adviser might be able to juggle it for a while, but once it gets to a decent client base, I don’t think it is really feasible to do it part time.  “It is not something we want to do part time and definitely needs specialisation.

“It would also probably require somebody either to bring a book of business in or buy a book of business.”

Green says by focusing on their respective strengths adviceHQ and Money Planners can deliver even better outcomes for clients.

His company is still open to buying other businesses whether it is mortgages, insurance or KiwiSaver where there is an alignment of values and the seller is looking for Green’s firm to maintain those relationships.