Perth-based financial services company Wealth Management Partners (WMP) has taken a stake in start-up property advisory service Reaffirm.
WMP director Steve Beattie said investment properties had traditionally been popular among Australians looking to create wealth.
“With DIY super fund clients increasingly looking at property, that trend is set to grow,” Beattie said, adding WMP invested in Reaffirm because it identified a need to provide advice across all asset classes.
Reaffirm director Simon Moore said WMP had taken a “substantial” position in the company, but declined to elaborate.
Perth-based Reaffirm was launched earlier this year and Moore said he expected the company to break even in 2012 financial year.
“We’re probably a month away from getting all the licensing arrangements in place. Then we can start getting properties under management,” he said.
He said Reaffirm used a fee-for-service model, rather than the more traditional sales commission model.
“From a real estate perspective, I’ve always been frustrated that the whole industry is driven by a sales model and the interests of the client aren’t looked after, but the interest of the seller is. Being able to turn that around and having the interests of the buyer looked after by someone they pay ensures they’re getting good advice specific to their needs,” he said.
Reaffirm helped clients create a plan, search for property options, and evaluate and manage properties, he said.
He said the company would look at domestic properties for now.
“At this stage we’re providing advice on Australia-wide properties,” he said.
“In the future, we’re looking for opportunities to offer international properties to our clients.
“We’d be looking at the more stable, developed economies, which have seen major corrections in housing but still come with all the security of title that the developed economies have established,” he said, adding the United States, Britain, France and Germany would likely be the first ports of call.
