Two Brisbane advice firms merge

Brisbane-based financial advice firms Eureka Whittaker Macnaught (EWM) and Blue Harbour Financial Partners, which are part of AZ NGA, have announced their merger.

The merged entity will operate under EWM chief executive and co-founder Greg Cook and general manager Sally Bell.

It will employ 32 people including 14 financial advisers across five locations. The firms will trade under both EWM and Blue Harbour in the short term.

Cook said the deal unites two like-minded businesses of comparable size to form a large, integrated firm with significant scale, capability, and capacity.

Sponsored by Macquarie Fixed income ETFs: The opportunity is now

"I'm very excited about our future. Our mission is to be our clients' trusted adviser and the ringmaster of their financial affairs, which is a key driver behind our growth strategy and recent decision to establish a mortgage and lending business," Cook said.

"We also have great capability with self-managed super and aged care advice, and we have great advice relationships with industry superannuation."

Blue Harbour chief executive Todd Hitchcock said the merger will deliver many benefits to employees, advisers and clients including a stable, experienced management team.

"I'll still be involved in the business and I'm always thinking about the future to ensure that the business will be around for a long time to serve our people and our clients," Hitchcock said.

Located in Brisbane's Cleveland, Blue Harbour was established in 2002 and specialises in superannuation, retirement, and estate planning.

Cook recently told sister publication FS Advice why he's a strong advocate for guiding the next generation of advisers, having helped trained EWM's fifth Professional Year candidate.

"Philosophically we want a strong, stable team and having good career paths for the younger generation is a key part of that," he said.

EWM has offices in Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle, and Brisbane, and provides holistic goals-based advice.