Soul Patts partners with high-end aged care operator Washington...

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Soul Patts partners with high-end aged care operator

Washington H. Soul Pattinson has partnered with high-end aged care operator Shane Moran in the investment company's first foray into the aged care sector.Mr Moran is the former CEO of Moran Health Care Group, but has since branched out on his own by launching the premium retirement living operator, Provectus Care in 2001.Shane Moran has partnered with Soul Pattinson in a new joint venture under "by Moran". He aims to develop and operate a number of luxury independent living facilities with Soul Patts, with the first a $40 million beachfront site in Cronulla under his new brand, “by Moran”. The pair are looking to capitalise on the growing demand from ageing baby boomers, with those aged 65 years-plus poised to double by 2057.Mr Moran told The Australian Financial Review there was a gap in the premium market for those baby boomers looking for high-quality living options."Soul Patts has great expertise in funds management and property, which is a benefit to us," he said."Aged care has tended to be shorter and later in life, with more people staying in their homes a lot longer. But this is an opportunity for those people to retire but be with friends and like minded people, but they do not require that high level of care.

“There is an enormous growth in active, older downsizers wanting not just a more convenient and worry-free lifestyle, but also a more connected one."The partners expect to spend another $36 million building the retirement facility which will be styled by interior design and furniture group Coco Republic, and feature one, two and three bedroom apartments.Amenities offered include a concierge, club room and bar, dining facilities, business amenities, infra-red sauna, gym, pool, cellar and cinema. It also will have 24 hour emergency assistance. CEO Todd Barlow, left, and chairman Rob Millner are looking to new revenue streams. At its September full-year results, Soul Patts posted a 7.2 per cent fall in full-year profit to $307.3 million and flagged a fresh focus on premium retirement villages as a new revenue stream. The aged care business will sit alongside Soul Patts' others investments, which includes telecommunications, mining, pharmacy retailing and financial services. For the year to July 31, they generated total revenue of $1.6 billion, up nearly 38 per cent.Soul Patts chief executive Todd Barlow told the Financial Review the $5 billion listed investment company is looking to new earners that capitalise on longer-term trends, including retirement living and wealth management."The area that provided the most interest to us is the premium end (of retirement living), ... there is a good gap in the market to develop these assets," he said.Mr Barlow said he was not worried about any fallout from the aged care royal commissionas the sector they are investing in was a separate asset class.

"We are not going to compete with the highly regulated, high touch care operators," he added. Soul Patts is also looking to invest in financial services."It's taking advantage of [the] ageing population and the increasing wealth of those who have been contributing to superannuation for a long time," Mr Barlow said. "Similar to aged care, [the] wealth management industry in Australia was providing poor advice."We see an opportunity to create a new business that is compliant with regulations and providing good service to Australians."Mr Moran under the Provectus brand has luxury aged care sites across Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and China.The new independent living business ‘by Moran’ is in talks with other developers and landowners about other projects which will enable a roll out of dozens of premium villages across Australia.