Pinnacle will acquire 100 per cent of Winston Capital Partners Pty Ltd, citing the firm’s strong track record of raising early-stage seed capital for new boutiques, support for the retail distribution efforts of open-ended funds, and execution of successful closed-ended capital raisings as key to the transaction.
“This is an important investment in the continued expansion of Pinnacle’s retail distribution capabilities that will deliver our multi-affiliate network additional resourcing across Australia and help in bolstering our entire Group’s ability to scale and grow,” said Ramsin Jajoo, director, head of retail at Pinnacle.
“Over the past 15 years, Pinnacle has developed what is now a market-leading retail distribution team that connects with more than 21,000 intermediaries, including financial planners, brokers and wholesale consultants.
“The retail distribution footprint spreads across the Australian and New Zealand intermediated market and is reinforced by proprietary business intelligence and data analytics technology.”
As part of the transaction, four Winston sales executives, including its founding partners, will join the Pinnacle retail distribution team.
“Adding highly credentialed executives such as Winston’s founding partners Stephen Robertson and Andrew Fairweather, along with the broader team, further enhances our presence and strong market relationships,” he said.
Mr Fairweather was confident that teaming up with Pinnacle would provide strong outcomes for investors on both sides.
“We thank our valued partners who we’ve worked with during almost a decade of success in third-party retail distribution,” he said.
“We are now thrilled to join another success story in the Australian asset management industry and work with an incredibly high-performing family of investment boutiques.”
Mr Robertson also highlighted the shared values between the firms, stating this would propel growth in the partnership.
“We share Pinnacle’s belief that investors can achieve stronger client outcomes in a boutique environment, where they’re not distracted by non-investment functions,” he said.
“The Pinnacle Group’s long-standing mission of enabling better lives through investment excellence is one that very much aligns with what has motivated all of us at Winston over many years.”
The acquisition follows Pinnacle’s recent return to the ASX, wherein it announced that it would use its fully underwritten dividend reinvestment plan to take a further 10 per cent stake in Coolabah Capital Investments (CCI), advancing Pinnacle’s total equity holding of CCI to 35 per cent.
Prior to the merger, Winston worked as a distribution partner for CCI. All existing distribution rights will now be transferred to Pinnacle.
Following a bridging period, Winston executives will terminate all existing distribution partnerships with non-Pinnacle-affiliated investment managers.
