The latest merger and acquisition deals in the Asia wealth management arena.

Emigrant Partners, Koda Capital
US-based Emigrant Partners, the investment firm, has become a strategic minority investor in Australian financial advice firm Koda Capital. Under terms of the deal, Koda’s partners will continue to own 80 per cent of the business.

Emigrant noted that its stake in Koda is the first such direct ownership position it has taken outside the US. 

"The Australian wealth market is largely controlled by the banks and the opportunity for independent firms is enormous. Australia also has the 2nd largest per capita population of millionaires in the world,"  Emigrant Partners CEO Karl Heckenberg, told this publication when asked about the move.

Koda, which has 39 partners, oversees A$10 billion ($6.87 billion) of client money and was formed in 2014. In the case of Emigrant, it is owned by Emigrant Bank, which already has minority stakes in 18 firms collectively advising on more than $90 billion of client money.

Emigrant Partners said in a statement earlier this week that it will provide growth capital to support the acquisition of small-scale, high quality financial advice businesses aligned with Koda’s values and funding structures for equity recycling to support new equity partners joining the firm. 

MHB Advisors, a specialist investment bank focused on wealth and asset management, advised Koda. Kardos Scanlon, a cross-border law firm, also advised the Australian business. Australian law firm Clayton Utz advised Emigrant Partners.

“The investment by Emigrant Partners is the outcome of a strategic review process we kicked off last year, with a vision of finding a strategic partner to support the next phase of growth. With the growing number and wealth of Australians seeking truly independent financial advice, we see an opportunity to double in scale over the next five years,” Koda chairman Steve Tucker said.