What does the Catalpa community stand for?

We are a community passionate about the life changing benefits of advice.  Professional advice leaves clients better off financially and non-financially. Clients of advisers can spend more, achieve more, and accumulate more wealth, with less risk along the way.   They experience less financial stress, enjoy a higher quality of life, have more financial confidence and are more satisfied with their wealth than the unadvised.

We stand for freedom and independence.  Without vested interests that create real and perceived conflicts, we are set free from much of the compliance burden. 

Together, we are setting a new standard for professional advice.  We are a community that helps each other, not a collective of competitors.  Practices within the Catalpa community have their own, exclusive geographic territory.    

We take a long-term perspective. We want to be your growth partners, and build thriving, profitable and sustainable, independent practices.

Why is it so important to be independent?

Research shows that independent financial planners are the most trusted advisers; more trusted than accountants and superannuation advisers.

And rightly so because independent financial planners are paid only by their clients and are not influenced in any way by third parties.

That is rare in financial services, where the complex value chain produces an echo chamber of vested interests, each party clamouring to be heard. But in independent practices, the client has the only voice.

Clients understand independence.  It changes the dynamic in the professional relationship and fast tracks trust; clients are quicker to perceive us as their partners, not as transactional, self-oriented dealmakers.

What is Catalpa’s economic model?

We are a community more akin to a cooperative than a commercial licensee business. 

Our business model is simple. Our member practices share support services at cost, including professional education, product research, technical support, consistent policies, and professional frameworks to deliver on client outcomes.  With the fixed costs shared with other members, Catalpa reduces your cost to serve and drives profitability into the practice.

Our principal advisers are self-employed business owners with the majority stake in their professional practices.  Catalpa takes a minority non-controlling stake in the member practice, providing capital and expertise as growth partners with a long-term perspective. 

What services do you provide to members?

Together, we support your practice comprehensively so that you can concentrate on delivering superior client outcomes.

Shared support services include professional education, product research, technical support, consistent policies, and professional frameworks.  We provide a license to operate, membership of AFCA, professional indemnity insurance, and supervision and monitoring so that you can have confidence you are complying.

But above all else, we are a community that shares our experience as growth partners.  We have a track record of quickly establishing highly successful professional practices from scratch.  We specialise in partnering with ex-institutional advisers in start-up practices.  

We know what needs to be done to be successful quickly, from the tech stack to business development activities that work. If you would like more support, we provide optional services including turn-key brand management and growth consulting.   Growth consulting will help you identify the characteristics of your ideal client, the messages that resonate, define a client value proposition, design service offers and devise business development and go-to-market strategies that work.

Who is the ideal member for Catalpa?

We have a track record of quickly establishing highly successful professional practices from scratch.  We specialise in partnering with ex-institutional advisers in start-up practices.  

In our experience, career-oriented professionals working within institutions reach a ‘tipping point’ and they want to take more control of their careers and the ways they serve their clients.

Our ideal member wants to be self-employed with a controlling interest in their practice. They have already met the January 2026 education requirements and are a CFP® professional or on a pathway to becoming a CFP professional.

They are looking to build sustainable, highly profitable practices over the long-term with the right foundations. 

Why does Catalpa want a minority interest in my practice?

Our principal advisers are self-employed business owners with the majority stake in their professional practices.  Catalpa takes a minority non-controlling stake in the member practice, providing capital and expertise as growth partners with a long-term perspective. 

Catalpa invests in the member practices to align interests and make the economics work in the long-term.  After all, Catalpa Pty Ltd provides its license and community services at cost, with no profit margin.  Catalpa is the enabler that reduces costs to serve and drives profit into the practices.

It’s important that the principal advisor retains the controlling interest in their practice. Catalpa is a community of self-employed business owners, not managers, and not employees. Research shows that client outcomes are better when advisers have the professional accountability of owning their practice.

How will I find clients?

There has never been a better time to start a practice. Demand for advice is at record highs, with the super system reaching maturity and the intergenerational wealth transfer under way. 

And while demand is high, supply is low.  Since the Royal Commission, adviser numbers have almost halved, leaving hundreds of thousands of previously advised clients without an adviser.

That said, business development is challenging for most financial planners.  But the Catalpa community has a track record of quickly establishing highly successful professional practices from scratch.  

Independence is a powerful sustainable competitive advantage that cuts through the noise.  We will show you how to leverage it to build referral relationships that can be relied on and go-to-market strategies that work.

How can you help reduce the risk of starting my own firm?

We know from experience how hard it is to leave the comfort of employment and a regular salary to start your own firm.

Members of Catalpa have done it themselves.  We know what needs to be done to be successful quickly, from the tech stack to business development activities that work. 

We have a track record of quickly establishing highly successful professional practices from scratch.  We provide up to ten hours of growth consulting up front at no cost to help you with your business planning. Growth consulting will help you identify the characteristics of your ideal client, the messages that resonate, define a client value proposition, design service offers and devise business development and go-to-market strategies that work.

If cashflow is important for you to meet your personal commitments like your mortgage repayments and school fees, we can underpin a guaranteed salary for an agreed term. 

If you would like more support, we provide optional services including turn-key brand management and ongoing growth consulting for an additional fee.