Specialist insurance advisory firm Certe announced today it has acquired financial advisory business Genesis Financial Partners, creating an integrated professional services firm with more than 20 staff including nine advisers.

Certe says the acquisition significantly expands its risk insurance and employee benefits business, and will bring additional capability in holistic financial advice and wealth management.

“Demand for strategic financial advice among our corporate clients and their employees has been steadily rising,” Certe CEO Jeremy Boller said.

“Many are partners and executives of large professional services firms so they are time poor and want convenient access to high quality advice on insurance, superannuation, investing and retirement planning from someone they trust.

“This acquisition fills a gap in our value proposition, strengthens our existing employee benefits service and enables us to help more people.

Under the terms of the deal, Certe has acquired 60% of Genesis Financial Partners upfront and will purchase the remaining 40% at a later date.

Certe and Genesis Financial Partners will continue operating independently for the next 12-18 months, before merging some functions to extract synergies and cost benefits.