Scaling Viola’s vision with Macquarie’s integrated cash management systems

When longtime colleagues and friends Charlie Viola, Sean Ward, and Andrew Levi launched Viola Private Wealth, they weren’t starting from scratch. They’d long envisioned creating a wealth management model that provides bespoke and high-touch advice to high-net worth Australians, without anybody else’s capital on the balance sheet.

The trio had worked together at Pitcher Partners and bought part of its wealth management practice as part of a management buyout.

"We’ve learnt the lessons of the last 20 years in terms of what systems and infrastructure should look like for a private wealth firm,” says Viola, who is an adviser in the firm and its Executive Chair.

“What happens generally is good practitioners get together and build a business. Then, later, they think – ‘someone has to run this, or manage this, or do the governance.’

“We think we can scale quickly because we’ve built the business the opposite way around to most groups. We’ve built the infrastructure to cater for a much bigger business than what we currently have.”

The cornerstone of client portfolios

Viola Private Wealth runs its portfolios non-custodial and bespoke, meaning each of its clients has a different portfolio, with different makeup – and they don’t mandate model portfolios. Viola has long been an advocate of being hands-on with managing client portfolios and working with the service providers that enable this approach.

“We want to find really good assets and be unconstrained in how we find those assets, so we can give clients opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise see,” says Viola.

“Where some have had to catch up with the fact that advisers want to run client moneys directly, Macquarie has been with us the whole way, that whole time.”

Each client at Viola Private Wealth has a Macquarie Cash Management Account (CMA). Ward, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, describes it as the “central nervous system” of each client’s portfolio.

The firm also uses the Macquarie Cash Management Accelerator Account, linked to the Macquarie CMA, to earn interest on money they’re yet to deploy. Viola values parking money in an account with a competitive rate that can also be quickly accessed – without penalty – if an opportunity arises or a client needs access to their cash.

"Without Macquarie CMA, without the connectivity to our systems, without it being integrated into our client management systems, we just wouldn’t be able to do what we do,” says Viola.

“Because we run our portfolios non-custodial, we cash reconcile every day. Without effective data feeds we get from Macquarie, we just wouldn’t be able to run portfolios the way we run them."

Tailoring and technology

Exceptional client experiences are a priority for Viola Private Wealth and one that Levi, the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, sees as a core tenet of the firm’s brand promise.

Given the firm’s focus on providing tailored and white glove treatment to its clients, Levi is especially passionate about technology that integrates with the firm’s systems, to support them in delivering both a bespoke and transparent service.

“The Macquarie Cash Management and Accelerator solutions integrate with all our various systems, so we can provide personalised data for our clients,” says Levi.

"Being able to get that cash data – wherever I am – and being able to get insights into various transactions, is absolutely paramount to us being able to provide that optimal experience to our clients. And that transparency builds trust.”

Technology is also foundational to the firm’s future success and something Ward sees as a strategic enabler of the firm’s growth and reputation.

“We want to be the poster business for technology. We see what we have with Macquarie as mission critical for us in championing our cause,” he says.

“Macquarie has invested a lot into technology, and continues to invest in technology, and they continue to understand what businesses and intermediaries need.”

Steadfast on security

Of all the things Viola Private Wealth is trusted with – portfolio construction, investment advice, performance – nothing supersedes the security of a client’s life savings.

“Many of our clients are first generation wealth, so they are people who have built nothing into something,” says Levi.

“They’re trusting us to be able to not only grow and enhance their wealth, but make sure that it’s there tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.”

Security is paramount in both how the firm structures its operations and infrastructure, and how it selects service providers to work with. Those service providers are benchmarked annually on whether they’re going above and beyond when it comes to cyber protection – and if they’re not, they’re out.

“My background is risk, compliance, governance – and I can’t over-emphasise how Macquarie's interests and our interests are aligned when it comes to security and data handling,” says Ward.

Security tools such as Macquarie Authenticator, a multi-factor security app, gives the leadership team comfort that their clients’ cash has advanced and market-leading protection.

“Genuinely, Macquarie has state-of-the-art security measures” says Levi. “The Authenticator app has been amazing from a personal experience and a client experience perspective.”

A bold blueprint

In the long run, Viola Private Wealth wants to continue scaling - enabled by their infrastructure, technology and security platforms and service providers.

The trio’s objective over a five-year period is to turn a $2.5 billion business into a $15 billion business.

“We think we have the people, the systems, the governance and the ability to do that,” says Viola. “And, we think we can do it quite quickly.”