Warwick Traynor and Peter Hensley Launch HNW Business

The challenges facing the private wealth profession today have been well documented.  The profession can’t rely on regulation to rebuild trust; the market itself needs to take responsibility for this.

Former MLC chief executive Warwick Traynor and former JBWere chief executive Peter Hensley have launched a new private wealth management firm, Asteri Asset Management.

Privately funded by private equity players and former wealth industry executives, Asteri Asset Management will provide wealth management solution for high net worth individuals, families, and not for profit organisations. It will have no institutional clients.

Traynor will chair the business, while Hensley will take the chief executive role.

Traynor said: “The challenges facing the private wealth profession today have been well documented.  The profession can’t rely on regulation to rebuild trust; the market itself needs to take responsibility for this.

“As we considered the landscape of wealth advice, we saw a gap – that of an independent, high quality firm, staffed by experienced professionals that serve clients in a manner completely free of the conflicts of interest which exist in many firms.  We believe the wealth advice firm of the future is independent.

“We will charge clients transparent fees for our services, without any commission for selling them into products that may or may not suit them. This enables us to genuinely put our clients’ interests first at all times.”

Hensley said: “A major benefit for our clients is that Asteri Asset Management is not aligned with or owned by a financial institution, as opposed to the vast majority of other wealth management firms in Australia.  We will have access to the best investment solutions available without any of the structural conflicts of interest, which has caused many clients to question the impartiality of the advice they receive.

“Our key professionals will own equity in the new business.  We believe that a culture founded on the principle of partnership, combined with an opportunity to be an owner of the business, will be very attractive to those advisers who want to be at the vanguard of a new, respected direction for the profession.”

 

Read more at financialstandard.com.au