Global private wealth manager charges ahead after Baker Young buy
Capital Haus is charging ahead with an expanded global presence and new services after buying SA stockbroker Baker Young – its former and new owners tell how the deal went down.
Global private wealth manager Capital Haus will introduce a “DIY” service this December as it looks to expand further into Asia and the United Kingdom – a year after it acquired highly regarded SA-founded stockbroker Baker Young.
Capital Haus founder and chair Brendan Gow said the group was constantly evolving its offerings and was currently developing a platform where clients could log in and have access to research to inform them in making their own investment decisions.
“At the moment, most of our clients are grandparents to the parents, maybe even some of the children who are falling into the accumulation phase,” Gow said.
“What happens to the kids, their kids, or their kids’ kids? People can’t quite afford it, or they’re not quite mature enough for financial advice. They don’t need an advisor yet but, ‘I’ve got some money in the bank that I want to grow. What can I do?’”
Gow was in Adelaide last week to mark the acquisition of respected South Australian stockbrokers Baker Young after a deal was thrashed out in under 10 days between the two brands about six months ago.
Baker Young was founded by Alan Young and David Baker more than 40 years ago. At the time of its acquisition by Capital Haus, it served more than 6,000 clients and managed $700 million in Australian dollars.
Following the purchase, Capital Haus’ funds now exceed $1 billion, with Baker Young co-founders Alan Young and David Baker having stayed on in active advisory roles.
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Baker Young co-founder Alan Young said the acquisition was about “passing the torch” to the next generation, saying the client-first approach of Capital Haus appealed.
Capital Haus specialises in institutional corporate strategy, governance, capital raising and strategic transactions, and operates around Australia and globally, from Brisbane to Dubai.
Young told InDaily that Capital Haus’ youthful energy appealed, with Gow having recently turned 40.
“We wanted to make sure this business and its clients had succession, they had stability and certainty in the long term, because our business has always been about acting in the client’s best interest and trust on an intergenerational basis,” Young said.
“To find people who are young enough with the skills, experience, background and aptitude and so on is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and Brendan and his two colleagues met every criterion in that respect.
“He’s (Gow’s) on a plane back to Dubai, an 18-hour flight, and he’s also negotiating with us and delivering documents and completing the transaction. Now that indicates an energy and a capacity and a capability that’s rare.”
The Baker Young brand was kept as part of the acquisition, with Young saying it was about “a combination of heritage and innovation”.
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“We’ve always been on that trail, and the same ethos existed at Capital Haus – the idea that best interests are first and foremost, and it’s about how you advise them throughout their journey, not just what transactions you do, and that made a perfect marriage,” Young, who compared Baker Young to “The New Yorker” of stockbrokers, said.
“Baker Young offered things that we didn’t do. We had things that they didn’t do. Putting those two things together, those differences are really what strengthen us now together,” Gow added.
“But the one thing that was important, that was exactly the same, was the mission.”
Gow said the number of advisers nationally has halved since 2018, with a major challenge for the sector being a lack of trust from younger people, who often turn to disreputable online sources.
“We, at Capital Haus, we’ve been going through a very heavy growth and expansion phase primarily through mergers and acquisitions … Baker Young is definitely the pillar of the acquisitions that we’ve done – it is the biggest thing that we’ve done to date,” he said.
Young said the innovative approach of Baker Young in the early days, which was founded in 1985 and specialises in private wealth management, stockbroking and financial advice, was still present.
“The oldest brokers, who were essentially landed gentry, they were people of inherited wealth, they came in at two, had two hours of lunch, left at four and went back to their farms,” he said.
“We did things like open a street front shop, which had all sorts of prospectuses and information in it that people could come in and read … In other words, we offered a service.
“Everyone else has been backing out, and we’re charging forward.”
Editor’s Note: Alan Young is Chair of Solstice Media, publisher of InDaily.
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