Produced By: Ensombl
In the dynamic world of financial advice, where trust, technical expertise, and empathy converge, creating a thriving practice requires both vision and a solid ethical foundation. In 2023, four well-established Australian financial advisory firms—Advice Wise, Insight Private Wealth, Sovereign Wealth Partners, and Randall Advisory—joined forces in a landmark merger, unveiling a new entity known as Essentia Wealth. The story of how these firms came together speaks to the importance of genuine collaboration, professional development, and a deep commitment to client well-being.
This article chronicles that journey, tapping into the insights shared in a recent conversation between Andrew (the host) and Matt Fenning (the newly appointed CEO of Essentia Wealth). Beyond detailing how four successful practices fused into one, it also highlights the critical role of professional ethics, the engine-room mechanics of a financial planning business, and the deeply personal nature of client-adviser relationships. While the story focuses on one firm’s experiences, it also paints a broader picture of the future of financial planning and the values needed to shape that future.
Professional services in Australia have witnessed remarkable transformation over the past decade. For financial planning, much of this shift stems from regulatory changes, the aftermath of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation, and Financial Services Industry, and the rapid exit of many large institutional players. Against this backdrop, entrepreneurial advisers recognized both the need and the opportunity to take the lead.
For Matt Fenning, merging four already-thriving firms was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. The notion took shape around the time of the Royal Commission, when it became clear that financial advice was evolving into something more structured, more client-centered, and more rigorously regulated. Rather than continue as a boutique business, Matt saw that the future of high-quality financial advice could be centered on a “house of niches,” where a broader range of clients could be served by specialized professionals—yet unified by shared ethics and best practices.
Before the merger, Fenning’s original firm Advice Wise had a strong foothold in the Sydney market, working with around four to five authorized representatives (ARs) and a cadre of support staff. It was a smoothly running outfit, built on robust business processes, a well-defined career path for junior advisers, and technology that could scale up.
However, Fenning felt that to build a lasting legacy and elevate the profession, the firm needed greater depth, broader service capabilities, and the capacity to influence. As part of that long-term vision, he identified three other firms—Insight Private Wealth, Sovereign Wealth Partners, and Randall Advisory—that not only shared a similar client ethos but also demonstrated openness to collaboration.
Patience and diligence defined the pre-merger process. In fact, it took nearly 24 months of discussion to reach an agreement. Fenning refers to this approach as the “date, get engaged, and then get married” process—prioritizing cultural fit, professional alignment, and clarity on how each partner’s technical processes and service models would blend. For all stakeholders, the driving question became: Can these four discrete businesses unify around a mission of delivering high-quality, ethically grounded advice?
Nothing underscores the power of ethical, professional financial advice like real-life client stories. Early in Fenning’s career, he began working with a couple in their late 30s. Both enjoyed budding careers, and they wanted to ensure a strong financial foundation to protect their young family. Fenning’s recommendation included a comprehensive set of personal insurance policies.
When the husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, Fenning assisted with the trauma claim—crucial for immediate financial relief—and also engaged his broader professional network to help the client access advanced treatment in the United States. Because of the coverage in place, the family’s finances could carry the burden of international medical expenses. The client recovered briefly, gained invaluable extra time with his family, but unfortunately the cancer returned, and he passed away within a year.
This experience was bittersweet: a painful loss for the family yet a testament to how comprehensive advice and strong ethical standards can truly change lives. In Fenning’s words, the work done “wasn’t just about the numbers; it was about valuing the personal relationship and using every resource at our disposal to help.”
Financial planners operate under strict regulatory oversight, from Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) requirements to the Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) Code of Ethics. But beyond compliance, the genuine adviser is compelled by a sense of duty and care that transcends documents and box-ticking. When a client calls in crisis—financial or otherwise—an adviser’s ethical framework is what drives them to look beyond formulas and products to offer real guidance and emotional support.
Fenning’s story echoes the call for a truly client-centric ethos—where the adviser’s role is not just about wealth creation, but also about stepping in when life deals unexpected blows. Insurance products, superannuation strategies, and estate planning mechanisms all form the tools, yet how the adviser wields them—prioritizing the client’s best interests and life goals—reveals genuine professionalism.
In bridging four established firms, technology became a primary focus. Essence of scale is efficiency: if back-office support can be centralized and streamlined, advisers spend more time on high-value client interactions. Essentia Wealth decided to use Fin365—built on the Microsoft Dynamics platform—as its CRM of choice. The original impetus for adopting Fin365 stemmed from the idea that building on Microsoft’s cloud-based, ever-evolving suite of services would open possibilities for growth and deep integration.
Alongside Fin365, the firm also adopted Xplan for advice production. Though new software solutions compete in areas like financial modelling, the Xplan platform remains one of the industry’s most advanced and comprehensive. Its integration with CRMs and compliance oversight tools is well-established, which helps keep advice documents consistent with regulations and client engagement in sync.
Power BI plays a further role in data analysis. By encouraging advisers and support staff to log tasks and time spent on each client, Essentia Wealth uses real data to address capacity planning, identify pain points, and manage profitability. Through systematic reviews of how many hours are spent advising different client tiers, leadership can decide whether fees need adjusting or if a new hire is required to maintain service quality.
No amount of technology can replace human insight, empathy, and professional growth. One of Fenning’s biggest wins is building a “professional services structure,” akin to a law or accounting firm. This model outlines a clear career path—moving from a Client Service Officer (CSO), to an Associate Adviser, to an Authorised Representative, and eventually to a Senior Adviser or Partner.
Within this framework, each adviser leads a “pod” that includes associates and CSOs. Regular “huddles” or “whips” ensure alignment—everyone understands which clients need reviews, which compliance tasks are pending, and how to handle new leads. The entire team also convenes for daily and weekly check-ins, ensuring that a hybrid work environment (with many staff electing to spend about three or four days in the office) still maintains a tight-knit culture.
A distinguishing element of Fenning’s approach involves training with professional actors—an idea he credits to his time in an industry academy. By simulating challenging client conversations in a safe but realistic setting, junior advisers develop “soft skills” crucial for real client meetings. Whether it’s discussing delicate topics like insurance claims for terminal illnesses or responding to pushback on risk profiling, these structured role plays help younger professionals learn to fail quickly, adapt, and gain confidence.
Additionally, monthly sessions with Fenning for associates and younger advisers allow them to workshop communication styles, dissect difficult client scenarios, and share lessons learned. The ethos is: Give every team member the framework and the freedom to add their personal touch. In other words, there is a well-defined process, but advisers can inject their unique personality and interpersonal styles while honoring ethical boundaries.
Professional culture is also sustained through celebrations—from achieving professional milestones (qualifying as an adviser, completing a professional year) to personal life events (marriages, new babies, home purchases). Fenning notes that each success is also a reflection of the employer’s commitment to providing stable work, career progression, and a supportive environment.
Meanwhile, philanthropic and community engagement remain integral. Instead of gifting holiday hampers, the team decided to donate to charities selected by staff. From Beyond Blue to the Smith Family, each philanthropic choice emerges from personal staff stories, reinforcing a culture where shared humanity ranks as high as professional achievement.
Fenning, along with his late father, had seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t in multi-firm mergers. A key principle gleaned from this experience is: “If you recognize conflict, bring it forward and deal with it.” In the early stages of the Essentia Wealth merger, it meant setting up robust conversations—sometimes uncomfortable—around issues like:
By preempting the friction points and creating a “no surprises” environment, Essentia Wealth set a foundation where each partner’s expertise is recognized—and integrated—without losing the essence of their individual approaches.
On the business side, each firm’s principal sought assurance that their existing clients would be well-served within the unified structure. For the merger to proceed, those principals had to see meaningful roles for themselves and clarity around equity stakes. Essentia Wealth ultimately structured its ownership so that employees own the business—an employee-shareholder model that fosters collective accountability and provides a runway for senior associates or new advisers to buy into the firm in the future.
Another unifying factor is the firm’s self-license. Essentia Wealth remains independently licensed, avoiding any partial or full ownership by large financial institutions. This autonomy is seen as an ethical advantage: it ensures that the firm’s only priority is fulfilling a best-interest duty to each client, free from aligned product influence.
One of Fenning’s guiding philosophies is building a “house of niches.” In his own practice, Advice Wise specialized in two main client segments:
By merging multiple firms with distinct specializations, Essentia Wealth can develop multiple “niche pods.” Each adviser or advisory team can focus on the market segment that best resonates with their expertise and passion, while cross-referrals within the firm ensure clients access the best fit. This not only elevates the client experience but also enriches adviser job satisfaction.
Though currently based in Sydney’s Governor Phillip Tower, Essentia Wealth harbors ambitions to expand into Brisbane and Melbourne. The firm is exploring both mergers with like-minded practices and selective acquisitions. For exiting principals, the business offers a well-structured succession plan and the confidence that clients will transition into a robust, ethically driven environment. The main criteria remain cultural alignment and a long-term view of building a nationally recognized advice brand.
Fenning envisions a future where the industry is home to several medium-to-large, independently owned advice firms that function like top-tier law or accounting partnerships. Banks and big institutions once dominated the Australian financial advice scene, but the drift away from vertical integration invites a new wave of ethical, client-focused brands. If done right, these new champions can influence tens of thousands of Australians, bridging the advice gap that persists in middle and upper-middle markets.
In forging these future models, ethics and professionalism must remain the backbone. Formal commitments to charitable giving, consistent staff training, structured career pathways, and advanced technology all form the building blocks of a modern advisory practice. Essentia Wealth’s example—merging four firms, centralizing compliance, and harmonizing conflicting investment and fee structures—points to how such growth can work in practice.
Professional ethics in financial advice is more than abiding by the law. It’s about client-first thinking in every recommendation, whether that’s insurance planning, superannuation, estate planning, or investment management. Advisors must navigate complex personal circumstances—health struggles, divorces, job losses, or windfalls—and respond with empathy, clarity, and a deep sense of accountability.
In day-to-day operations, that commitment manifests through:
The tragic-yet-inspiring story of the young father with brain cancer shows that advisers become pivotal figures in life-defining moments. Clients entrust them not just with their wealth, but their peace of mind. Handled with care, these relationships can help families weather storms, create legacies, and live more fulfilling lives.
Beyond direct client interactions, Essentia Wealth’s pledge to donate to charities—rather than hand out corporate gifts—highlights that altruism and profitability need not conflict. Clients often appreciate philanthropic gestures more than material items, and staff feel proud to work for a company that channels resources to meaningful causes.
Furthermore, as staff members rotate in choosing which charity receives the firm’s Christmas donation, the organization remains connected to the personal values of its employees. It’s a “people-first” culture that resonates with families, colleagues, and the broader community—an essential element of genuinely ethical practice.
Essentia Wealth’s story underscores a major milestone for Fenning, his partners, and their combined teams, yet it’s only the “end of the beginning.” Bringing four firms under one banner was an intricate process requiring alignment on shared values, processes, and brand identity. Now the real work begins—refining the new structure, integrating client experiences, expanding capacity, and further entrenching ethical standards as the essence of the merged enterprise.
For the broader profession, the Essentia Wealth example offers a positive glimpse of what the future may hold. Far from a “race to the bottom,” the consolidation wave can evolve into a “race to the top,” where a handful of major ethical players set the bar for excellence in advice. If these firms continue prioritizing client outcomes, staff development, and robust compliance, they will reframe public perception of financial advisers—akin to how reputable legal or accounting firms are viewed.
Ultimately, professionalism and ethics remain paramount. They inform every aspect of a modern practice: from the technology stack and day-to-day processes, to how advisers celebrate staff milestones or respond to a client’s life-altering health crisis. By merging the best of four distinct cultures—and bringing them together under one unwavering mission of “changing lives through advice”—Essentia Wealth positions itself at the forefront of the industry’s evolution.
In a sector that too often grabs headlines for the wrong reasons, the Essentia Wealth journey offers a counterpoint: a newly formed “super firm” committed to delivering first-class client care, prioritizing its team’s welfare, and investing in communities. If more practices embrace such a blueprint, Australia’s financial planning profession will not just comply with new regulations—it will thrive in a spirit of genuine service, innovation, and ethical responsibility.
With strong leadership, robust culture, and unshakeable ethical principles, Essentia Wealth illustrates how financial planners can bring positive transformation—both to the lives of their clients and to the broader public perception of the financial advice sector. While the firm’s journey has just begun, its aspirations point the way to a more confident, collaborative, and client-focused industry.
Accreditation Points Allocation:
0.10 Technical Competence
0.10 Client Care and Practice
0.10 Professionalism and Ethics
0.10 General
0.40 Total CPD Points