National Australia Bank (NAB) has completed the previously announced divestiture of its New Zealand wealth management businesses to the newly formed entity FirstCape.
FirstCape has been formed via the consolidation of NAB’s JBWere New Zealand and BNZ Investment Services enterprises, along with Jarden Wealth and Asset Management and Harbour Asset Management.
The combination is said to create a premier advisory and asset management firm serving clients in New Zealand.
Following the completion of the transaction, NAB and Jarden Wealth and Asset Management will hold 45% and 20% stakes in FirstCape, respectively.
Funds overseen by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) have acquired an interest of 35% in FirstCape, with the investment used to finance the cash payments to NAB and Jarden Wealth and Asset Management.
Announced last year, the deal is expected to yield a pre-tax gain of about A$400m ($261.26m), which will be excluded from cash-earnings.
FirstCape will have a combined 113 advisors and NZ$29bn ($17.24bn) of funds under advice and administration.
Besides, the advisory and asset management firm will oversee NZ$15bn ($8.92bn) of funds under management, including NZ$5bn ($2.97bn) of KiwiSaver funds under management.
KiwiSaver is the voluntary savings scheme of Bank of New Zealand which helps customers with retirement.
FirstCape will deliver better client offering by delivering a portfolio of services designed to every client’s unique requirements, at whatever stage of their investment life cycle.
In October 2023, NAB launched a new artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cash management, analytics, and forecasting platform, dubbed NAB Liquidity+, in partnership with NAB Ventures portfolio firm Trovata.
Powered by Trovata, NAB Liquidity+ supports corporate customers in bringing together their critical banking data.