Deloitte buys Rice Warner

Deloitte Australia has expanded its footprint in the superannuation and wealth management advisory space with the acquisition of financial services consultancy Rice Warner.

Established in 1987, Rice Warner was one of the largest independent actuarial firms in Australia with offerings in superannuation mergers, benchmarking, and reporting. They also offered services in life insurance, public policy, and in the fintech space.

"Advisory services across super, insurance, and wealth management are highly specialised," said Deloitte Australia managing partner for consulting Ellen Derrick. "Rice Warner has deep sector expertise and relationships, and highly valued public policy and research capabilities that will really complement Deloitte's existing market presence. This combination will allow us to become the leading advisor to sectors that are so important to Australia's economy, to businesses and families, and to the country's future."

Rice Warner CEO Andrew Boal, who has been in the top job for the last two years, will become a consulting partner at Deloitte.

Before joining Rice Warner, Boal spent 27 years with Willis Towers Watson in a variety of roles including head of Australasia and managing director of Australia. He's also been a board member for ASFA for more than five years and a member of the Actuaries Institute of Australia for more than a dozen years.

"This is an exciting new chapter in Rice Warner's history," said Boal. "Applying our proven strengths and specialised technical knowledge of the superannuation, insurance, and wealth management sectors has resulted in the development of truly unique and innovative client solutions. We are looking forward to further enhancing offerings, working with our new colleagues at Deloitte, with our existing clients as well as the exciting opportunity to work with new clients."

Deloitte Asia Pacific managing partner for consulting Adam Powick said that he's delighted to have Rice Warner's talented and experienced team of professionals join the firm. "The addition of the Rice Warner team means that Deloitte will be the pre-eminent superannuation and wealth management advisors in Australia and this transaction also strengthens our highly-valued actuarial capability across Asia Pacific."

Rice Warner will formally join Deloitte on 1 May 2021.