Recent Projects

Victoria’s Foodbowl In late 2008 Adviser Edge was engaged by Regional Development Victoria as the lead consultant in the development of a strategic plan and marketing strategy to underpin a new economic zone called Victoria’s Foodbowl. Incorporating six northern Victorian shires – Swan Hill, Ganawarra, Loddon, Campaspe, Greater Shepparton and Moira – the aim was to collectively market the Foodbowl as an investment destination, focusing on the high value agribusiness opportunities that exist in the region.

One of the key drivers of the project was the Northern Victoria Irrigation Renewal Project, which is co-funded by the state and federal governments and is the largest irrigation project to be undertaken in Australia for a number of decades. The modernisation of ageing infrastructure will ensure the future viability of many regional towns and cities, providing opportunities for expansion of high value agriculture in parts of the Foodbowl region.

Adviser Edge’s principal tasks were to complete an economic profile that provided a complete picture of the Foodbowl's economic output, to undertake stakeholder consultation, and prepare a strategic plan. Following the completion of the strategic plan, which identified a number of goals, Adviser Edge’s key partner in the project, McKinna et al, developed a marketing strategy that focused on building awareness and attracting new investment.

Adviser Edge’s work was completed in early 2009. Victoria’s Foodbowl has strong ongoing government support, both in terms of funding and resource allocation. This has helped to ensure the success of the strategy and marketing plan roll-out, which commenced in 2009.

Century Funds Management takeover of Becton RE role

In August 2010 Adviser Edge was engaged by a dealer group client to evaluate the merits of replacing Becton Investment Management (Becton) as Responsible Entity (RE) for two unlisted property trusts. In taking on the role of independent arbiter, Adviser Edge was tasked with evaluating the merits of appointing Century Funds Management (Century) as RE.

Adviser Edge undertook a comparative analysis of Becton and Century to determine if change was warranted and likely to be in the best interests of investors. At the outset, Adviser Edge identified a number of critical tests that Century would need to meet if positive guidance was to be given.

These key tests related to:

• žFinancial stability
• žProperty management experience, capabilities and track record
• žDebt refinancing capabilities

With a tight deadline to meet, Adviser Edge allocated significant resources to the task. This allowed the analysis to be completed with sufficient time for the guidance (affirmative for Century) to be disseminated to advisers throughout Australia whose clients were affected by the vote to change RE.

This work clearly illustrates the value-adding approach of Dealer Group Plus. While the work was commissioned by a specific dealer group client, Adviser Edge was able to provide the guidance to other dealer groups for the benefit of their advisers and clients.

Loddon Shire Adviser Edge was engaged by Loddon Shire in north central Victoria to undertake a project called ‘Planning for Change’, which was focused on developing and implementing a regional investment strategy for the Loddon Shire’s irrigation industry. This work was a logical extension of the ‘Victoria’s Foodbowl’ project completed by Adviser Edge in 2009, which also incorporated Loddon Shire.

The Planning for Change project was a staged project, commencing with the completion of a detailed Loddon Economic Profile, which incorporated a detailed SWOT analysis. This process enabled Adviser Edge to isolate the key areas of strength – high quality soils, modernised water delivery infrastructure, scale and climate – which collectively give Loddon its competitive advantage.

Prior to commencing the development of a strategic plan, Adviser Edge undertook extensive stakeholder consultation, including a survey of irrigation water users, to determine the level of confidence that was present in the Loddon Shire’s irrigation communities. This work helped inform Adviser Edge and was instrumental in ensuring the strategic plan considered the importance of building community capacity and sustaining its existing businesses.

The strategic plan identified six key goals, which were supported by a range of objectives and specific actions. Implementation of the plan will take months and years depending on the specific elements of the plan, with Adviser Edge maintaining an ongoing role to assist with implementing key recommendations.

Central to the investment strategy was the development of a regional ‘prospectus’ and an investment website, which will both showcase the potential of the Loddon shire. Loddon Shire is firmly committed to the project and is very supportive of the initiative taken by the internal business development team.

To download a copy of the Loddon Valley Prospectus, please click here.

Gunns Plantations Limited takes on Great Southern RE role

In early 2009 investors in Great Southern plantation pulpwood projects were given an opportunity to vote for the replacement of Great Southern Asset Management Limited (GSAML) as Responsible Entity (RE). In all there were three bidding parties wanting to replace GSMAL – Gunns Limited, Pulpwood Plantations Pty Ltd, and Blacktree Limited, each with a unique proposal and varying attributes.

Adviser Edge acted independently to determine which proposal had the most merit from an investor’s perspective. In undertaking this work, Adviser Edge focused on financial outcomes for investors, forestry management capabilities, and long-term stability. Ultimately, guidance was provided to dealer group clients supporting the appointment of Gunns as replacement RE for most of the projects.

The guidance to vote ‘yes’ for Gunns was used by dealer groups to provide direct advice to clients. Consequently, Gunns was successfully voted in to replace GSMAL. Without clear guidance from Adviser Edge, there may have been a situation in which no proposal was successful, which would have been to the detriment of investors.