Q1 · FY24
Inaugural M&A mandate completed for a Wellington engineering firm.
Engagements9
To our clients, our colleagues, and the small number of friends of the firm who read these reports — thank you for another considered year. The work we do is the same work we have done since 2017: it is slow, it is conservative, and it is intended to last past us. We are pleased to report that the firm closes FY26 with no audit qualifications, no client losses of consequence, and three new partners admitted on the steady progression we prefer.
Aotearoa entered the year with familiar headwinds. Capital remained expensive, the appetite for transactions cooled in the first half, and the regulatory expectation around trust accounting tightened — appropriately, in our view. Against that backdrop, our clients continued to favour patience over haste. We advised on twenty-seven succession plans, six private-company sales of significance, and one cross-border restructure that occupied four of our partners for the better part of a quarter.
We do not chase scale. The firm has grown by deliberate increments — never more than a partner a year, never a junior we have not personally interviewed twice. The result is a practice that fits comfortably inside one floor of an old building on The Terrace, where every file is read by a partner before it leaves the office. We expect this to remain so.
Our thanks, as always, to those who have entrusted us with their financial affairs. The privilege is ours, and we do not take it lightly.
| Service | Scope | Typical engagement | Fee from |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tax structuring
Private clients · Trusts
|
Restructures, intergenerational planning, residency advice and IRD ruling applications. | 8–14 weeks | NZD$ 18,500 |
| A long-form engagement we accept selectively. Most begin with a six-week diagnostic before any structure is recommended; we have declined more than we have accepted in the past two financial years. | |||
|
Statutory audit
Tier 1 · Listed entities
|
Full-scope audit of NZX-listed entities and large privately held companies under XRB standards. | 12–20 weeks | NZD$ 72,000 |
| Conducted by partners holding current FMA licences. We rotate lead engagement partners on a five-year cycle, in line with CA ANZ guidance, and decline audits where we have provided advisory work in the prior twenty-four months. | |||
|
M&A advisory
Mid-market
|
Sell-side and buy-side advisory for transactions between NZD $5M and $80M enterprise value. | 4–9 months | NZD$ 45,000 |
| Quoted as a retainer plus success fee on the lower end of market convention. We have completed forty-one transactions across the firm's history with a median process length of seven months. | |||
|
Forensic accounting
Disputes · Litigation support
|
Independent expert reports, fraud investigation, and quantum analysis for proceedings before the High Court. | 6–18 weeks | NZD$ 24,000 |
| Carried out in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses. Two of our partners have given oral evidence in the High Court within the past year. | |||
|
Family office
Multi-generational
|
Consolidated reporting, governance, philanthropy and succession across family asset bases above NZD $25M. | Ongoing | NZD$ 9,500/mo |
| A small practice area by design. We presently hold eleven family-office mandates and intend to grow that number by no more than two engagements in any financial year. | |||
|
Trust & estate
Administration · Compliance
|
Trustee services, financial statements, distribution planning and compliance under the Trusts Act 2019. | Annual cycle | NZD$ 6,200 |
| Engagements priced per trust per annum. Approximately one in six existing trust clients elects to add an independent trustee from our partnership; we accept those appointments only where there is no conflict. | |||
Correspondence is read by a partner of the firm. We respond within two business days, ordinarily on the same day.