MA Financial unveils three-year scaling plan

MA Financial has appointed an independent director while increasing its proportion of assets held by domestic HNW and retail clients by 75 per cent in the first half of 2026.

David Lloyd is currently chair of South Australian super fund SuperSA and a professor emeritus at Adelaide University. He was formerly vice-chancellor and president of the University of South Australia from 2013 to 2026.

“Through these roles, he developed extensive experience in organisational leadership, institutional transformation and the management of complex stakeholder environments,” the firm said.

MA Financial chair, Jeffrey Browne, said: “I am delighted to welcome David to the board of MA Financial. His appointment further strengthens the independence of the board and brings valuable perspective developed through a distinguished career leading large and complex organisations.”

“David’s strategic judgement and experience handling significant change and diverse stakeholder environments will be valuable as MA Financial continues to grow,” Browne added.

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The MA Financial board consists of Browne, Simon Kelly, Ken Moelis, Chris Wyke, Julian Biggins, Nikki Warburton, Alexandra Goodfellow, Andrew Pridham, Cathy Yuncken and Kate Pilcher Ciafone, seven of whom are non-executive directors.

Fiscal Targets for 2029

In its financial results for the first half of 2026, the firm shared a 2029 plan to scale its existing platform to be a diversified platform of scale. These include targeting growing assets under management to $24 billion, the MA Money loan book to $15 billion and the Finsure managed loans to $300 billion.

“The compound annual growth required to achieve the FY29 targets is below that delivered over the past three years, reflecting the significantly larger base from which the group is now growing. We believe this provides a measured and achievable pathway to delivering the targets,” the company stated.

The combination of continued growth across the group’s businesses and targeted EBITDA margin expansion has the potential to deliver substantial earnings growth and create significant value for shareholders over the period.

While the firm aims to grow its loan books aggressively, a shift in the client base suggests a more conservative approach to fundraising. The proportion of domestic high-net-worth and retail clients increased from $5.3 billion a year ago to $9.3 billion, a rise of 75 per cent. Conversely, the proportion of international clients (migration) reduced from $2 billion to $1.5 billion.

Gross inflows were $1.3 billion, down 14 per cent, as $364 million of listed market raisings that had occurred in the first half of 2025 did not repeat this year.

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“Gross flows remain stable, however lower net flows due to increased outflows in real estate credit during a period of market volatility,” the firm said.

Excluding listed and institutional flows, gross fund flows were up 4 per cent to $1.1 billion driven by consistent flows into private credit and growth in real estate inflows led by Redcape Hospitality’s successful capital raising.

Unlisted net inflows (excluding institutional and listed vehicles) were down 16 per cent to $246 million due to increased outflows in real estate credit funds during a period of cyclical headwinds.

Joint CEOs Julian Biggins and Christopher Wyke said: “The group’s performance in 1H26 demonstrates the scalability of our diversified business model. Delivering 45 per cent underlying earnings growth during a period of significant market volatility and macroeconomic headwinds is a strong result. Our assets under management and loan books continue to demonstrate good growth and transactional activity is rebounding from cyclical lows to benefit the business.”

“We’ve had a very strong start to 2H26 and believe that the group is in great shape to deliver strong earnings growth into the future. This is demonstrated by the release today of our new three-year strategic targets which we believe are achievable given the scalable business platform we now have in place.”