Fund manager Couillault’s new venture launches as Hobson2

The sale of Australian financial services group Macquarie’s New Zealand private wealth unit is complete and the business rebranded for its increased local focus.

The deal to acquire Macquarie Private Wealth was inked earlier this year, led by former Fisher Funds portfolio manager Warren Couillault.

The 15-year-old business has been rebranded Hobson Wealth Partners, after Captain William Hobson, the first governor of New Zealand.

“We chose Hobson as it’s a strong, independent name that can be used up and down the country,” says Mr Couillault, the company’s executive director.

He isn’t worried about any taint from another new Hobson – Don Brash’s Hobson’s Pledge group. “The timing’s a coincidence but that group hasn’t received much media coverage. Our use of Hobson’s name is a positive connotation, anyway.”

Hobson has 20 shareholders including Mr Couillault and some of the 50 staff who came over from Macquarie, which has retained a minority shareholding in the new business. Macquarie’s Martin Wight has taken a board seat.

The handover has “not been a slash and burn exercise,” Mr Couillault says. “The business has been run efficiently but we’re adding some research and compliance.”

It’s just finished shifting from Macquarie’s bank and IT systems, and will still buy Macquarie’s institutional research, which will be supplemented with local research for its retail investors.

Mr Couillault resigned as a Fisher Funds director in February 2008 and sold his 27% stake in the firm, and has since been running Richmond Investment Management, a private advisory firm in partnership with the NBR Rich Lister Spencer family.

He saw an opportunity to do something different when Macquarie put its private wealth business on the block, spinning it out from its New Zealand investment banking and institutional securities units.

“It’s an industry I know and a business that was established, substantial and well-known. So when I got the opportunity to lead the buy-out, all my big picture sector thoughts melded nicely with the size of the business.” Mr Couillault is looking at how the company can act better for clients and what services could be added. Its main competitors are First NZ Capital, Craigs Investment Partners, JB Were and Forsyth Barr.

“Being locally owned, we’ll be more responsive to local market conditions, without the layers of management Macquarie had. We can start up new projects much faster than in the past.”

Expanding its reach
Hobson manages $2 billion for 7000 clients but brand awareness needs to grow and the product range extended to attract more customers.

It doesn’t offer managed funds and this is something it will look at, as well as running a KiwiSaver fund (Mr Couillault ceased his directorship of KiwiSaver provider Generate in September).

“Overall there is a reasonably vanilla range of products people can access in New Zealand, and there is scope for that to improve. There is a big opportunity for technology to drive down administration costs while getting a better service,” Mr Couillault says.

“Hobson won’t offer ‘robo-advice’ but we have to be conscious that other people are offering it and adapt to that.”

He expects to see more index tracking fund products being started in New Zealand as well as a wider acceptance of alternative products such as hedge funds.

Laurence Fitzpatrick remains chief executive of the business, which Mr Couillault says is well-capitalised to meet regulatory requirements and fund growth for the next three to four years, and has further staff shareholders ready to buy in before the end of the year.