Poynton alumni looks over Hartleys

The wheeling and dealing over the future of Hartleys has highlighted the influential network of former Hartleys people in prominent roles around Perth. Mark Beyer reports.

WHEN Hartleys’ board of directors was looking for a corporate adviser to assist with restructuring the embattled stockbroker, who did they turn to?

They appointed Gresham Partners, whose Perth directors include Jenny Seabrook, a one-time head of investment banking at Hartleys.

And when senior Hartleys staff were looking for an adviser for their planned management buyout, who did they turn to?

They appointed Ernst & Young Corporate Finance’s Martin Alciaturi, who worked alongside Mrs Seabrook at Hartleys in the mid 1990s.

Mrs Seabrook and Mr Alciaturi are just two of the former Hartleys staff who could have a big influence on the fate of their old employer.

Another is Charles Fear, whose firm Argonaut Capital has been retained by Hartleys competitor Sanford.

While Mr Fear’s brief relates to IWL’s ongoing takeover bid for Sanford, many market observers see Sanford and Hartleys’ JDV technology business as logical merger partners.

Former chairman John Poynton – whose father Hartley Poynton founded the business in 1955 – is also seen as a possible player in the sale or break-up of Hartleys, although he has played down the prospect.

Mr Poynton was chairman of Hartleys during its heyday in the early 1990s and left just before its public float in 1996.

Some former staff believe the divergent fates of Hartleys and of Mr Poynton’s new business is telling.

“Since he left, they’ve destroyed tens of millions of dollars of share-holders’ money,” said one former employee.

“He went out and set up Poynton and Partners and managed to sell it for $34 million. That says it all.”

One of the reasons for Poynton and Partners’ success was its ability to attract first-class talent. The same applied to Hartleys.

“That was the resounding quality that John had,” said Robert de la Motte, who now works for rival broking firm Paterson Ord Minnett.

“He had a great ability to build a good team.”

For instance, when Hartleys established an institutional dealing desk in 1988, it was able to recruit the likes of Brett Fogarty and Tony Barton.

Mr Fogarty left in the early ’90s to set up his own broking firm, and has gone on to run mining and infrastructure group GRD.

Mr Barton built an enviable reputation as a top trader before leaving in 1999 and floating Australian Heritage Group.

Other experienced recruits included Geoff Anderson, who moved from rival broking firm Eyres Reed in 1992 and became one of Hartleys top private client advisers, and David Craig, who was recruited from law firm Parker & Parker and went on to become head of wealth management.

The formation in 1995 of a management consulting business, known as Poynton Consulting, led to an influx of young talent.

Mark Barnaba – a WA Business News 40under40 winner – Geoff Rasmussen and Errol Levitt all left their jobs with international consulting group McKinsey to come to Perth.

“We all came to Perth to work with John,” was Mr Rasmussen’s simple explanation for this career move.

The three left Poynton Consulting in August 1996 – soon after the departure of Mr Poynton – to establish management consulting firm GEM Consulting, which then merged with Poynton and Partners.

More recent departures from Hartleys include investment adviser Graeme Yukich – another WA Business News 40under40 winner – who established Entrust Private Wealth Management last year.

The legal stoush that erupted over Mr Yukich’s departure highlighted the woes facing Hartleys under its old management, according to former staff.

“It shows how bad things had got, when they had to take people to court to try and stop them leaving,” said one ex employee.

While Hartleys has lost many prominent staff over the years, client advisers who have stayed, such as Ian Parker, John Featherby, George Georgiadis, Darryl Smalley and Robin Forbes, have client lists that would be the envy of most brokers around the city.

The question is whether this remaining group can revive a one-time broking icon.