‘Today we become a new IOOF’: MLC acquisition complete

IOOF announced that the acquisition would take effect from 11:59pm on Monday night.

The news will see the business double in size to $494 billion FUMA, with an additional 406 MLC advisers joining IOOF.

“This acquisition is truly transformational for IOOF as it positions us as the leader of a new era of wealth management in Australia, giving us a strong platform for future growth,” IOOF CEO, Renato Mota, said.

“Today we become a new IOOF. We have the strategic intent, the talent, and now the scale, to deliver our advice-led wealth management proposition to more Australians than ever before.

“While this acquisition delivers immediate value to our shareholders, we consider its potential for medium and long-term value even more compelling. 

“IOOF and MLC share a common purpose to improve the financial wellbeing of all Australians. We also share a client-oriented philosophy and together, we will now be proudly serving over 2.2 million Australians. 

“Together, we will deliver clients and members broader access to wide-ranging capabilities and technical expertise, enhanced infrastructure and a strong corporate governance framework.

“Importantly, this step-change in scale will over time, lower the cost of serving clients and members.”

Mr Mota added that around 84 per cent of advisers from IOOF's 'target set' would be joining the new merged business.

"It has been a priority for IOOF to ensure that those advisers joining the group with this acquisition, as with the ANZ Wealth acquisition, are aligned with IOOF's Client First philosophy and our Advice 2.0 response to the transformation of financial advice in Australia," he said.

"We are thrilled to welcome the very talented MLC team to the IOOF family."

As part of the transition arrangements, MLC Asset Management group executive Garry Mulcahy would also move across to become chief asset management officer at IOOF, while Sawsan Howard, most recently general manager of corporate affairs for Australian Super, would come on board as chief corporate affairs and marketing officer.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.