With Count’s acquisition of Diverger set to complete on 1 March, the firm will overtake Insignia Financial as the second-largest financial advice licensee in Australia.

Insignia Financial believes performance in the advice division will be less strong in the second half of the year as it exits from Godfrey Pembroke.

Iress chief executive Marcus Price has admitted the firm has seen clients re-evaluate their usage of Xplan and detailed future changes, as advisers complain the technology is “slow and clunky”.

Sequoia has reported an “abnormally high” NPAT increase of more than 4,000 per cent on the previous year, while reporting strong tailwinds for its licensee division and adviser growth.

AMP has launched a new estate planning offering across its financial advice network in response to client demand ahead of Australia’s looming intergenerational wealth transfer.

Wealth management firm LGT Crestone has appointed an investment adviser to its Adelaide office as the firm focuses on the evolving high-net-worth market in the state.

In this episode of Relative Return, Maja Garaca Djurdjevic speaks with Andrew Fraser, principal and portfolio manager at Merlon Capital Partners, about growing an asset manager and exploiting behavioural biases.