Interview: Simon Madder | CEO of Prime Financial Group

In this edition, we interview Prime Financial Group’s CEO, Simon Madder.

What is the history of Prime Financial Group?

Prime Financial Group is an integrated Accounting and Business Advisory, Wealth Management and Capital Advisory firm that operates on a direct client advice model as well as a partnership model with other Accounting & Advisory firms. We established Prime 20 years ago with a very simple philosophy all around helping accountants to deliver clients a complete Accounting and Wealth Management Service.

Today Prime is a firm with over 90 team members located primarily in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. We offer all three of our core services to our own clients and we support over 30 Joint Venture Accounting firm partners to deliver Wealth Management, SMSF, Capital and where appropriate technical Accounting services.

What range of services does the group provide? Are there any particular specialist services?

Prime has 3 core services which we offer our clients, Accounting and Business Advisory, Wealth Management (including SMSF) and Capital Advisory. Prime are privileged to have deep expertise in several areas including, government grants, business advisory and growth planning, SMSF, portfolio management including managing over $1bn for our clients, plus corporate advisory for mid-sized and emerging businesses.

Ultimately our team focuses on providing the right service for our clients and not simply providing a one size fits all solution. We customise and personalise each of our services so that it helps our clients achieve their aspirations and goals.

Being the head of an ASX listed financial services company must be challenging?

I think the financial and professional services industry in Australia and across the world is challenging but at the same time it’s also very rewarding and exciting. We are privileged to have the opportunity to genuinely contribute to people’s lives and businesses, and we gain real fulfilment from that.

In terms of Prime being an ASX listed company, by enlarge, all that occurs differently in an ASX listed environment is that you have the opportunity to operate in a setting with greater governance, accountability and transparency, plus you have more ready access to capital.

What challenges or opportunities do you foresee for Prime Financial Group emerging out of the Hayne Royal Commission?

Given the public nature of the hearings and the transparency attached to this process, this has allowed the community, regulator and providers to hear first-hand about very negative experiences that some consumers have encountered. This ground zero moment has been important to urge some providers to act and remind everyone of their responsibilities. Putting clients first and offering choice as to how they engage with providers in a transparent manner, that clients direct and control, has always been our preference and cornerstone to our philosophy.

We hope through the Royal Commission, clients feel empowered and engaged to receive the advice and value they deserve and that we gain the opportunity to assist additional clients and partner with further professional advisers that want to join a team with a ‘client first’ mentality.

What are the group’s plans over the next 5 years?

In the last 2 years, Prime has more than doubled the size of the team and focused our operations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. This rapid expansion has seen us taking steps to integrate and educate the team and inform clients as to our extended capabilities.

We are very pleased with our progress and over the following three-year period we will continue building into the leading mid-sized integrated advisory firm in Australia.

Prime will continue to consider selective acquisitions in the coming years, but this will be strongly based on the cultural fit and how different businesses integrate into the Prime model. Our ultimate mandate is to deliver a complete experience for our clients and to our partner firms.