Today, Money Management announced its sale, along with Super Review, to Momentum Markets. In the piece below, our Executive Director and former Money Management Editor, Bruce Madden, reflects on the growth and significance of the publication amidst a radically different era in finance, following the closure of its print edition, after 35 years, earlier this year.
“Precisely half a lifetime ago, I took on the Editorship of Money Management during a period of great flux for the fledgling financial services sector. That year of innocence was 1995, a time when press releases were distributed by unreliable fax machine, the print deadlines for 48 pages of sparkling industry news were fortnightly, and social media meant having a few beers in front of the TV at the pub after a Friday deadline – having put the next edition of the newspaper ‘to bed’.
The stories in those days were much the same: market gyrations, new innovations – if that is what a master trust might be called, people movements, regulators overstepping their remit, industry bodies having no clue, fraudulent advice being held up by industry super funds, and the rising influence of institutional money.
The first foray of the big end of town into the cottage industry of financial planning came on my watch. Life company Mercantile Mutual made its bid for the RetireInvest planning business. The industry had never before seen a grab for distribution on this level, priced at some hundreds of millions, and this deal spawned a whole new interest in so-called ‘bancassurance’ leading to the major banks also buying their way into the advice and wealth management space at the turn of the next decade, the noughties.
In 1997 I hosted an industry black tie event marking the first 10 years of the Money Management title. The evening’s highlight was an entertaining ‘hypothetical’ where Money Management friends and family – David Koch, Ross Greenwood, and Paul Clitheroe among them got on stage to take the piss out of themselves and celebrate the success of an industry that was only just learning about the internet, and which could never have foreseen the shift in dynamics that represents the modern, thriving wealth sector in Australia today.
My tenure at the title ended after five rigorous years, including the sale of Money Management to Reed Publishing. I left to join Fairfax and begin another competitor title that owed its presence to the founding role of Money Management.
I took on the role of Money Management Editor at a drinks function hosted by industry impresario, publisher, and Managing Editor Kochie, who made the remark: “Here’s Madden; he had better not f*ck it up.”
Almost 30 years later, I am glad to see the digital masthead still going strong, and I celebrate the end of an era with the passing of the print edition of the newspaper.
Well done to all, and best of luck to the ongoing success of Money Management and its team.”