Press Releases

Inter-Alliance Worldnet Announces Japan Deal

Subsidiary of Inter-Alliance International (part of Inter-Alliance Group PLC) announces deal with Japan headquartered IFA.

17th November: Inter-Alliance WorldNet (IAW) is delighted to announce that CitiBridge Consulting Ltd (CBC), a Tokyo based IFA and domestic IFA advisory company, is to join IAW as a full member with immediate effect. The company, which was founded by Scott Asahina, James Douglas Gadd and Alastair Mclean, leads the field in Japan for structuring highly competitive, compliant, tax preferential financial planning solutions, with a particular focus on the complex world of US offshore taxation and investment.

A relatively new company, CBCs' founders have a total of 18 years of financial experience. The company prides itself on the quality of the relationships it maintains with the worlds' leading institutions and fund managers and the high level of qualifications and training of its rapidly expanding workforce. Following the scheduled launch of a Shanghai office in April of 2004 and a third office in the last quarter 2004, the company expects to generate gross incomes in the region of $1.8 million from its expatriate focused businesses in 2004.

The Japanese government recently announced a shift in its long-term goals for individual retirement planning. In order to encourage offshore investment and due to the changing financial planning focus of Japanese citizens and the companies that advise them, CBC has announced the signing of a contact to supply administrative, IT, fund and product based support services to The Links Group (IFA Japan), a forty member Japanese domestic onshore IFA network, effective November 7, 2003.

Brian Cosgrave, Chief Executive of Inter-Alliance International and Managing Director of Inter-Alliance WorldNet, said:

We are delighted to welcome CBC into our international network. We have been very selective during the course of this year as to the quality of new member we are targeting and CBC fits our criteria in every respect. They have the experience and the professionalism to make a real difference within the markets in which they have chosen to operate.

"We are particularly delighted to be able to enter the Japanese market at this point in time. We believe that this represents an exciting development for Inter-Alliance WorldNet and a great opportunity for CBC. We are very much looking forward to working with the CBC management team and seeing their market share grow.

James Douglas Gadd, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The financial industry is changing rapidly and the once huge differences between offshore and onshore financial planning are closing. At the same time, the differences in financial planning needs between individual countries continues to decline and the need for well resourced, highly trained professional IFAs increases constantly. By aligning ourselves with IAW, we feel that we are taking a large positive step towards our goal of being the market leading IFA and IFA advisory service in Japan. We feel it is in the best interests of our current and future clients to actively seek this pooling of skills and resources and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with IAW."