PRIVATE CLIENT practices within the Big 4 and the Mid-Tier Accounting firms saw the highest level of laterally hired talent at the Partner level. A large part of these lateral hires were due to major acquisitions in the Big 4, with Deloitte acquiring Moore Stephens Western Sydney and PwC acquiring MGI in Melbourne.

Given the acquisition of Moore Stephens in Western Sydney adding 10 new Partners, Deloitte clearly had the highest new Partner growth of the Big 4 firms with 62%. This was followed by PwC with 23% including the acquisition of 5 Partner firm MGI in Melbourne. KPMG had 15%.

Laterally hired Partners within the Big 4 were very low with only five Partners laterally acquired:

• Tax Partner David Pring joined KPMG’s Western Sydney Practice from Deloitte. David will lead the Private Enterprise practice in Western Sydney as KPMG reaffirms their presence in the area.

• Tax Partner Paul Welch joined PwC in Sydney from Mid-Tier firm RSM Bird Cameron.

• Business Services Partner Lisa Stribley joined Deloitte in Melbourne from boutique Melbourne firm Hansens.

• Business Services Partner Leanne Hegarty joined KPMG’s Sydney practice. Leanne was previously a Director at PwC.

• Management Consulting Partner Toni Jones joined KPMG’s Melbourne Practice from Mid-Tier firm Grant Thornton.Business Services saw the largest growth with 44% of the new Partners. This was followed by Audit and Tax with 18%, and Advisory Services with 12%. Again this dominance of Business Services was largely supported the acquisitions of Deloitte and PwC.

Melbourne had the greatest number of new Partners with 38%, highlighting the large Private Client market that exists in Victoria.  Western Sydney had 36% highlighting the growing focus on the burgeoning Western Sydney market within the Big 4 firms. Sydney CBD interestingly had only 11% of all new Partners.