TEAM plc Executive Chairman Mark Clubb caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the acquisition of Neba Wealth, combining it with Globaleye under the new division, and how quickly they can expand that new division.
Q1: Mark, you’ve announced the acquisition of Neba Wealth but could you just talk us through the strategic rationale for the acquisition?
A1: Firstly, Neva is a financial advisory business based in Malaysia but operating a network of financial advisors across Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, together with a Singapore-based business that promotes structured funds to a network of IFA’s in those regions.
We’ve paid £1.2 million for the business in shares, and John Beverley, the founder of Neba, will be joining as Head of our newly created division TEAM East.
This division will incorporate the Neba businesses and our recent acquisition of Globaleye. So, it will add depth i.e. new advisors, more business activities, and a couple of additional locations.
It’s also a fantastic opportunity to accelerate fund flow into our asset management’s Managed Portfolio Service (MPS), and that service is systematic and therefore scalable. Fund flow into that MPS service is significantly revenue generative but more importantly, very very margin enhancing.
So, broadly, Neba Wealth aligns extremely well with our company’s focus on international markets, what one might define as expat communities, not just British but Australian, South African, New Zealand, it mirrors our client-central focus, if you like.
Geographically, it’s pretty obvious that it’s a logical extension to the offices that we acquired with Globaleye. At the end of the day, there is a shortage of high quality advice in these markets and this is all part and parcel of our strategic plan to build up a robust platform, more depth, in these emerging markets with top tier advisors. So, we’re really excited about the potential here.
John will be a meaningful shareholder in the business so that aligns with all of our other shareholders including myself, he has the track record, he has the experience of these markets and he has the leadership qualities.
It’s a bit of an end to the old, Globaleye, and a welcome to the new, the Neba management, and we’re very much looking forward to it.
Q2: How difficult will it be to combine Neba with Globaleye under the new division?
A2: First of all, they’re a natural pairing, they do the same thing broadly in much the same places so the operational similarities and the shared demographics client type of their existing client books are very much the same.
Prior to the Neba acquisition, the company had already cleared the decks, if you like, ready for the new management. That unfortunately meant that there were some letting go of people, and now we are jointly looking to recruit quality advisors.
With John at the helm, we have a leader with that proven track record and his entrepreneurial spirit is what really first attracted me, but also it makes the whole integration side of thing highly motivated.
Q3: As part of the attraction there, is it bringing John into the business?
A3: Yes, absolutely, but it’s not just John. They have an existing business with existing clients and existing advisors, they will be joining our ranks of advisors so we increase our advisor numbers.
I keep using this word ‘deepen’, it deepens our penetration, it deepens our resources, and it deepens our opportunities in these overseas markets. Unlike a lot of our peers on the London Stock Exchange that are very much focussed on UK, we are focusing on these international markets, that’s the big differentiator. Our resources are going to be very much tilted that way, both in terms of staff numbers and client numbers.
So, we’re crafting basically a strong platform. We’ve seen the departure of the senior Globaleye management and we’re looking for fresh perspectives and strategies, at the same time I do want to take a moment to thank Tim and Rupert for their past endeavours and we wish them well for the future.
Q4: How quickly do you expect to expand TEAM East?
A4: Well, the expansion will be through the recruitment of high quality advisors, and that is both John and mine’s vision, if you like.
On the ground, he will be the main architect, I will support him as and when needed, and we are already talking to a number of potential recruits and we very much hope that they see the opportunity in joining the company through Neba.
I believe that we can be confident that we will be hitting the ground running in January, so to speak.
