WARWICK WEALTH: Multi-Faceted Growth Strategy Sees Warwick Doubling Every Three Years

“We’ve been busy, but busy is good,” says Marc Wiese, MD of Warwick Wealth.

As he sits in the company’s Gauteng office, north of Johannesburg, he smiles as he confirms the company has overachieved on his predictions from 2020.

Warwick Wealth is a leading financial and wealth management business, part of the Spirit Organisation, offering exceptional products, client service and performance since 2002. A leading national sponsor of around 850 grassroots sporting institutions, the company’s brand is increasingly well-recognised, and its impact on local communities is felt around South Africa.

Asked about how the company has performed, after strong historic growth, even through the Covid-19 pandemic, Wiese says his expectations have materialised. In early 2020, he said the following 10 years would be the company’s best ever.

“In hindsight, I stand by that statement,” he says today. “Looking back, even with lockdowns, we did well and we actually managed to grow. It allowed us to consolidate, and we completed a lot of training to make things more streamlined. As we went into the later part of 2021, it has been a record year after record year.”

M&A GROWTH

Warwick Wealth has expanded quickly for three key reasons. Firstly, its product and service quality is excellent. “I believe our client care is the best in the industry,” says Wiese, confident of the suite the company has built. Secondly, the company has been proactive with its existing customers, providing peace of mind during challenging times and earning a reputation as a partner. In 2021, Wiese told Enterprise Africa that Warwick Wealth got in front of clients as much as possible to ensure trust in processes. Lastly, Warwick’s ability to merge and onboard Independent Financial Advisory (IFA) books is industry-leading.

Typically IFAs that are looking to exit the industry for retirement, Warick Wealth will take on clients and offer the same, or better, service in a thorough and transparent transition.

“It has taken a quantum leap,” admits Wiese. “That has always been our vision and the driving force behind our growth.”

Warwick Wealth is an investment specialist, with a focus on comprehensive estate planning and wealth management and growth. The company not involved with short term insurance or similar products, and so any onboarding of external advisor accounts must be conducive.

“We like it when people want their clients to be looked after in the right way, and we want them to want us to offer the same level of service or better,” says Wiese.

“When we onboard a FA, it’s not just an email; it’s a long-term process. They sit with their clients and are very clear in the way the succession is explained. They can tell clients that the Warwick Wealth Specialist is a CFP qualified person, who has been through market cycles, and has 10-20 years’ experience in the industry, with an amazing support team. At the same time, through Warwick we can do so much more than an advisor would have been able to do on their own. Not more products, but an improved wealth management offering,” he adds, saying that all Warwick employees are bound by a client care charter which dictates how to deliver extraordinary service. “If the clients aren’t happy, the business is irrelevant.”

To ensure the smooth process of acquisition – a term Wiese dislikes: “it’s the activation of a succession plan; you can’t ‘acquire’ people” – a new onboarding division has been established, and a new Director of Client Care has been appointed.

“Our client care is the best in the industry, and the advisors do their due diligence on this and they recognise that to be true,” Wiese says. He invites advisors to visit, meet people, witness processes, take part in the culture, and make their own decision on why Warwick is the right choice.

“It’s a full, rigorous due diligence process. At the point we communicate with clients, there is no surprise. It’s a very smooth process.”

Of course, there is a very attractive financial offer for advisors, but the key focus is the ongoing care of clients. “Through the Warwick value proposition, with an annuity payment over an extended period, we believe we have the best financial offer for an advisor looking to exit the industry,” Wiese enthuses.

Warwick Wealth, as part of the Spirit Organisation, sits under the Orion Wealth Managers Group (with Appleton, a fiduciary specialist organisation), and the wider group can help clients to broaden their exposure to beneficial products should they require.

Director of Communications, Tim Hughes, adds that advisors who have joined the business have been happy to put their experience on record and the company now has a library of positive testimonials to share. This, he says, is very helpful when opening discussions for the first time.

“They give many reasons why they came on board and the word is spreading in the industry that clients are looked after really well, and the deals offered to advisors are the best in the industry. It is third party ratified, and that is helpful.

“The fact of the matter is that every person is looked after by at least three people. They have a wealth manager that is fully qualified and regulated, they have a client relationship specialist, and a client relationship officer. We also offer a high interest cash account automatically and we assist in so many ways; financial planning, tax planning, fiduciary, estate planning, wealth development and much more. It is a holistic service.”

CLIENT CARE, ABOVE ALL

Because of the world-class client care standards in place, many IFAs choose to partner with Warwick on a franchise-type arrangement. In 2021, Wiese wanted another 15 franchise offices organised in the following 12 months, but his expectations have once again been met, and more.

“We have opened an additional 30 offices around the country on the advisory side. We have three more opening this quarter and that will take us over 40 in a very short period of time. In the last two years, we have tripled in size, and that has been fairly spectacular,” he says.

Just three years ago, the economy in South Africa was teetering. There was much unease in the business community, and many structural issues which constrained economic development. Today, although many challenges remain, the picture is different and Warwick has again demonstrated its ability to operate through the good and the bad.

“We see green shoots in the economy,” says Hughes. “We have had a good period without electricity loadshedding. Interest rates are beginning to ease slightly. We have better business sentiment. There is more international appetite in the bond market. The local exchange is hitting record highs. We are not agnostic, but we do have a range of options for clients.”

For Wiese, the only way to take advantage of more favourable conditions is to continue offering premium customer service. This is his focus, and it filters into the culture of the business.

“In a business that is growing at the rate we are, we don’t want to drop the ball in terms of client service,” he insists. “You simply cannot renege on the core fundamental. The minimum compliance requirements are, for us, simply not good enough and we go way beyond that. As we grow, it is essential that people are trained in the right way.”

Cobus van Schalkwyk, a leading compliance officer and attorney, was hired in February to lead this push. With more than two decades experience, he brings a surgical focus on quality assurance, reviewing all calls, reviews and liaisons. “I have not seen that sort of commitment anywhere else in the industry,” admits Wiese.

At the same time, the new Warwick Client Communication System (CCS) is a digital wealth portfolio summary that sees the company using technology to further solidify its quality drive. This innovative system removes complexity from a typically demanding paperwork process.

“An independent business like ours – where clients have offshore share portfolios local annuities, retirement annuities, wills, banks accounts – when you review a client like that it is difficult to prep information for a review,” explains Wiese.

“Warwick CCS provides us with client review statements (a statement of private wealth) and it consolidates all of the client’s global and local assets into one statement showing cashflow movements, underlying holdings in a simple and easy summary. That has been a game-changer when sitting with clients and explaining their portfolio.”

DIVERSIFICATION

As the company grows further, Wiese and Hughes are clear that diversification is required to ensure the best delivery for clients. Exposing large financial portfolios to a single market that makes up less than 1% of the global exchange value such as South Africa, is, for Wiese, too risky.

“Our loyalty is to our clients,” he says. “We have to diversify in the right way. Each client is different and a bespoke financial view is important. The global stock market has outperformed the local stock market for a long period of time but that does not mean we will not invest here in SA where there are fantastic opportunities.”

Currently, Warwick has good exposure to local fixed income, local equity, RTAs, property and more. However, the company is also well-versed with international investments, with Wiese particularly keen on international share opportunities that cannot be found on the JSE. “Offshoring is exceptionally important,” he says. “The active view on asset location, and the ability to move money when required, in an efficient manner, is essential.”  

Spreading risk and investing in international products was a proactive decision made by management back in 2016. A positive communication campaign was undertaken to ensure clients were comfortable with any changes.

“That instilled a degree of confidence,” says Hughes. “When things were better in SA or better in international markets, we were right there with the client explaining our approach. That means that now these things are very orthodox for us. Our international exposure is not even questioned; it is a natural part of our portfolio. We have a really strong portfolio of offerings, and we always have something that is very appropriate for each risk profile, income needs, and other circumstances.”

The result of this globalisation in the business, combined with constant focus on quality, has resulted in a rampant period of sustained growth, and this will continue.                                

“In the past three years, we have grown at a record-breaking pace every year. We are set up to continue doing that for the foreseeable future,” reminds Wiese.

“Our long-term goal,” he adds, “is to grow Warwick into the best and largest wealth management business in South Africa. Alongside that, within the Spirit Invest Group, we have expanded the asset management offering and we have diversified that across six independent asset management businesses with more than 30 local and international unit trust funds. We have also decided to partner with nine different local and international best-of-breed equity specialist businesses where we buy equity models and research and apply that within the asset managers, offering even more diversification. That has been a significant investment, but it has been yielding results.”

Hoping for another round of perfect predictions, he sets out a bold vision for the coming years, taking into account the success of the business to date, his knowledge of the sector, and projections of economic success.

“I believe that Orion Wealth Managers will continue to expand, partnering with more businesses to bring them under the Orion Wealth Managers banner, bringing new focus areas where Warwick doesn’t have a core competency. Things such as employee benefits, medical aid, short-term insurance etc. That is a key goal in our overall structure.

“We believe that Warwick should be doubling in size every three years and that is our goal. We have been doing it for a while and we will keep on going,” he concludes.