Evans and Partners: Wealth Management Australia Overview

Two separate businesses share the name “Evans and Partners”—an Australian wealth advisory firm founded in 2007, and a UK accounting practice in Bristol. For anyone researching the Australian entity, this confusion creates a real risk of mixing up a listed ASX company with an unrelated British chartered accountancy firm. This article cuts through the noise to explain what Evans and Partners actually is, who runs it, and how it fits into the broader Australian financial landscape—backed by public records and official filings.

Non-Executive Chairman: David Evans · Primary Location: Australia · Services: Wealth Management · UK Counterpart: Chartered Accountants in Bristol · Company Status: Active per Companies House

The following table consolidates key identification details for the Australian entity.

Who is the founder of Evans and Partners?

David Evans is the founder of Evans and Partners Pty Ltd, which he established in June 2007 (E&P Official Bio). His career before launching the firm spanned more than 15 years at JB Were & Son and Goldman Sachs JBWere, where he led the Private Wealth and Institutional Equities divisions from 1990 onwards. Evans later incorporated E&P Financial Group Limited on December 18, 2015, which became the parent entity listed on the ASX under ticker EP1 (Motley Fool). He became a director of the listed entity in February 2017, and the firm’s annual report for 2024 confirms his current position as Non-Executive Chairman (ASX Annual Report 2024).

“Focused on their objectives, we harness the collective expertise of our business to deliver their full potential.”

— David Evans, Non-Executive Chairman, E&P FY24 Annual Report

David Evans built his reputation at some of Australia’s most established financial institutions before striking out independently—and the structure of E&P today still reflects that institutional heritage. His continued involvement as Non-Executive Chairman, even after stepping back from day-to-day operations, signals he remains invested in the firm’s strategic direction.

How did David Evans make his money?

David Evans’ wealth accumulation stems from his decades-long career in financial services, first at JB Were & Son—a Melbourne-based investment bank founded in 1840—and then at Goldman Sachs JBWere, where he ran the Private Wealth and Institutional Equities businesses (E&P Official Bio). These roles placed him at the intersection of high-net-worth client advisory and institutional equity markets, two areas that generate substantial fees and carry significant assets under management. When Evans launched Evans and Partners in 2007, he brought this client base and institutional expertise into a private advisory setting. According to Business News references in his profile, his earlier roles at Goldman Sachs JBWere positioned him to attract the high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients who remain E&P’s core customer base today.

The implication: E&P’s value proposition hinges on the human expertise Evans recruited from his network—a harder competitive advantage to replicate than any software tool.

Who is Evans owned by?

E&P Financial Group Limited is a publicly listed company on the ASX, which means its ownership is distributed across shareholders. The largest shareholder is MCF3 E&P Holdco Limited, holding 34,661,934 shares representing 14.58% of the company (Motley Fool). BNP Paribas Nominees Pty Ltd, acting on behalf of Hub24 Custodial Services Ltd, holds 10,468,679 shares (4.40%), making it a notable institutional shareholder and indicating a connection to the Hub24 wealth platform ecosystem (Motley Fool). David Evans himself remains a substantial shareholder following his transition to a non-executive role in July 2021, though the exact percentage isn’t disclosed in recent filings (Money Management).

What this means: No single entity controls E&P, which gives minority shareholders more influence than they would have at a founder-led monopoly. For clients, this distributed ownership structure means governance decisions involve multiple stakeholder groups.

What happened to Michael Evans?

Searches for “Michael Evans” in connection with Evans and Partners do not return verifiable information from official sources. The key figures associated with the firm—David Evans as founder, Benedict Keeble as current CEO, Tony Johnson as Executive Director—appear consistently in ASX announcements, annual reports, and industry coverage. Any references to a Michael Evans in this context appear to stem from social media or unverified sources rather than company disclosures or regulatory filings. This is a common disambiguation issue: “Evans” is a common surname, and searches may surface individuals from unrelated businesses or contexts.

The pattern: Searching for common surnames against companies with similar names easily leads to false matches. Verified E&P leadership appears only as David Evans, Benedict Keeble, Tony Johnson, Josephine Linden, Sally Anne McCutchan, and Robert Darwell.

How many employees does David Evans have?

E&P Financial Group does not publicly disclose its total employee count in recent ASX filings or annual reports. What is known from the FY21 Annual Report is that the Wealth division expanded by adding 365 clients and $709 million in Funds Under Advice (FUA) by June 30, 2021, a period during which the firm was also implementing operating platform enhancements (E&P FY21 Annual Report). The broader E&P group operates across multiple segments—Wealth Advice, Corporate and Institutional, and Funds Management—suggesting a multi-disciplinary team, but headcount figures for FY22-FY24 remain unavailable in public disclosures. This opacity is not unusual for privately structured advisory firms; Australian financial services companies often disclose FUA rather than staffing numbers.

“Evans & Partners founder, David Evans, is stepping down as executive chairman but will remain a substantial shareholder and contribute to the firm’s strategic direction as non-executive chairman, effective 1 July.”

— Money Management (reporting on the 2021 leadership transition)

E&P’s public disclosures emphasize client outcomes (FUA growth, client additions) rather than internal metrics like headcount. For investors or clients focused on scale, the funds-under-advice figure serves as the primary proxy for firm size in the wealth management segment. The implication: The absence of headcount data makes it impossible to calculate revenue-per-employee or assess operational efficiency—a gap that investors should note when comparing E&P to more transparent competitors.

Evans and Partners vs. UK Accounting Entities: Clearing Up the Confusion

One point of confusion worth addressing: “Evans and Partners” also refers to an unrelated UK accounting firm based in Bristol, registered as EVANS & PARTNERS LTD with company number 03270474 (Companies House records). That firm operates under the evanspartners.co.uk domain and focuses on chartered accountancy services for owner-managed businesses. It has no documented affiliation with the Australian E&P group, which operates exclusively from eandp.com.au and is listed on the ASX.

The implication: Mixing up these two entities could lead investors to analyze the wrong company’s financials or .

The services table below clarifies how E&P structures its Australian wealth management offerings across distinct segments.

What this means: E&P’s three-segment model lets the firm capture fees across the wealth spectrum—from individual clients paying advisory fees to institutions executing capital markets transactions. That diversification reduces reliance on any single revenue stream.

Leadership and Governance at E&P

Beyond David Evans, the board includes several non-executive directors with established credentials. Josephine Linden joined in March 2018, and her background includes senior roles in global financial markets (Motley Fool). Sally Anne McCutchan came on in November 2021, adding expertise in audit and risk oversight. Robert Darwell joined as CFO and Joint Company Secretary in June 2024, a relatively recent addition to the finance function (Motley Fool).

Most recently, Benedict Keeble bought 250,000 shares on November 22, 2024, for a total of $128,261—a personal stake that aligns his interests with shareholders (Motley Fool). This kind of director share purchase, disclosed via ASX filings, signals confidence in the firm’s trajectory and is worth watching for anyone tracking E&P’s governance signals.

The pattern: The board combination of long-tenured non-executives (Linden, McCutchan) with recent leadership additions (Darwell, Keeble) suggests a firm managing generational transition while maintaining institutional continuity.

Regulatory Context and Dixon Advisory

One wrinkle in E&P’s history involves its subsidiary Dixon Advisory & Superannuation Services Pty Limited, which faced ASIC regulatory action. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission suspended Dixon Advisory’s Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) prior to David Evans’ announcement of his executive transition in July 2021 (Money Management). This regulatory action is notable because Dixon Advisory was part of the Wealth Advice segment and served private wealth clients—including clients holding SMSF (self-managed superannuation fund) assets. The suspension predated Evans’ step-down, though the exact date of ASIC’s action is not specified in public records.

The implication: Dixon Advisory’s regulatory troubles suggest E&P’s Wealth Advice segment underwent significant scrutiny in 2021. Whether this affected client retention or reputation remains unclear from public disclosures.

The Hub24 Connection

Hub24 Custodial Services Ltd holds a 4.40% stake in E&P Financial Group, a shareholding that points to a deeper relationship beyond simple investment. Hub24 is an Australian wealth management platform provider that offers custodial services to financial advisers, enabling them to administer client portfolios on a modern technology stack. The fact that Hub24 holds E&P shares suggests E&P advisers may use Hub24’s platform to service client portfolios—or that Hub24 sees E&P as a strategic partner worth holding equity in (Motley Fool).

For clients, this connection matters if your adviser uses Hub24 for portfolio administration, because it affects how your assets are held and reported. The ASX also lists Hub24 separately as a financial services company, making EP1 and H24 distinct but related entities in the Australian wealth ecosystem.

What this means: The Hub24 shareholding creates a two-way strategic relationship—E&P gets access to platform infrastructure, and Hub24 gains a significant client base using its services. Clients should understand which entity holds their assets.

Dividends and Financial Health

E&P has a track record of paying fully franked dividends to shareholders. The final dividend for FY22 had an ex-date of September 30, 2022, delivering $0.0270 per share, while the interim dividend for FY21 paid $0.0200 per share with an ex-date of April 1, 2021 (Motley Fool). Fully franked dividends carry a tax advantage for Australian investors, as the franking credits can be offset against personal tax liabilities.

The pattern: E&P has maintained dividend payments through recent years, though detailed financial performance metrics for FY22-FY24—including revenue, net profit, and funds under administration—are not comprehensively available in this analysis. Investors seeking up-to-date financial disclosures should consult the latest ASX announcements and annual reports directly.

For Australian investors evaluating EP1 as a potential holding, the picture is straightforward in some respects and murky in others. The firm has a clear leadership structure, a listed parent entity with transparent share registers, and established revenue segments. What remains opaque is the current FUA/AUM size post-2024 and the precise nature of the Dixon Advisory aftermath. Those gaps matter—and they are exactly the questions worth bringing directly to an E&P adviser or verifying through the latest ASX disclosure.

Related reading: Average Super Balance by Age Australia

Evans and Partners leverages its Hub24 connections through the Hub24 login guide, enabling seamless adviser access for Sydney and Melbourne clients.

Frequently asked questions