Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Andrew Ehlich, General Manager, Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Insignia Financial's 1H 2026 results for the six months ending 31 December 2025. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on which we meet today, and pay our respects to elders, past and present, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on the call today. Presenting today, Insignia Financial's Chief Executive Officer, Scott Hartley, and Chief Financial Officer, David Chalmers. Scott will provide an overview of the 1H 2026 result, the achievements during the period, and execution against our 2030 strategy. David Chalmers will discuss financials before we hand back to Scott to discuss outlook and priorities for the remainder of 2026. There'll be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of today's presentation, which should take about half an hour.
I'll now hand you over to Scott.
Thanks, Andrew, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining. Today, we're reporting our first half results and continued progress against our 2030 vision. We recorded a 6% increase in UNPAT to AUD 132 million, reflecting higher average FUMA, supported by positive net flows and disciplined execution of our cost out program. Below-the-line cash costs were reduced from AUD 153 million to only AUD 16 million, driving significant improvement in NPAT. Net revenue increased 1.8%, supported by higher average FUMA of AUD 339 billion, up AUD 19 billion. We also continued to execute cost out, with base operating expenses reduced by AUD 31 million to AUD 449 million, despite inflationary pressures.
First half group revenue margin, at 42 basis points, is a mixture of Master Trust, which is favorable, and Wrap, which was lower due to the timing of initiatives, and we'll speak to this in the segment updates. Despite our lower revenue margin, we were able to deliver improved cost-to-income ratios of 63%, down from 68%, showing momentum while recognizing there is still more to do. We've made solid progress against key initiatives underpinning our 2030 vision. The slides provide a high-level snapshot of some of these achievements, which we'll cover in more detail through the business unit updates. We revitalized the iconic MLC brand in October with a Lifetime in the Making creative campaign, and we're already seeing improvement in brand metrics. In Advice, we delivered an improved cost-to-income ratio while maintaining strong growth and the strong external recognition of Shadforth advisers.
For Wrap, initial investment in AI capabilities markedly improved customer service and adviser back office efficiency, while momentum continued the strong improvements in flows supported by product enhancements during the half, including MLC Retirement Boost. In Master Trust, we introduced a new direct-to-consumer offering as part of our MLC brand launch, making it easier for members to join. Transition to SS&C is already delivering cost savings, and the MasterKey platform transformation remains on track for delivery later this calendar year. In Asset Management , investment outcomes remain strong, with 87% multi-asset funds outperforming benchmark, supporting continued retail flows momentum. In the Advice business, we've delivered an increase in net revenue and an improved cost-to-income ratio, driven by improved adviser efficiency, net new client growth, and a focus on higher value clients. Importantly, revenue per adviser increased 15% versus the prior corresponding period, reflecting the shift in mix and productivity.
Shadforth was again the most recognized advice firm in Australia, with 27 Shadforth advisers in Barron's Top 150 and five in the FS Power 50, which speaks to the depth and quality of our advice capability. The acquisition of PMD Financial Advisers by Shadforth strengthens our high net worth capability, adding around 400 client families and over AUD 700 million in funds under advice, which supports our strategy to grow advice through higher value clients. Operationally, the reengineering of the advice review process, including targeted investment AI, remains on track. Wrap delivered strong momentum in the half. MLC, Expand recorded AUD 3.3 billion of net inflows in first half 2026, and Wrap scale remains over AUD 110 billion in FUA.
We continued to improve efficiency, cost -to -serve reduced, and EBITDA raised, increased, reflecting ongoing cost out benefits across the platform and enablement functions. Wrap margins were lower than guidance due to changes in product mix, the impact of higher account balances on fee capping, and a delay in migrations of external platforms to the Expand platform. Innovation is a key, is, is a key driver, highlighting the launch of the MLC Retirement Boost and continued investment in AI is strengthening customer service outcomes and improving adviser back office efficiency, while clearly feedback indicating, with, sorry, with early feedback indicating the initiatives already deployed are saving advisers significant time. In Master Trust, we are delivering on simplification and unlocking benefits of scale. We completed the transitions of custody services of MLC to BNP Paribas in October 2025. We are now realizing cost out benefits, including impacts from the SS&C partnership.
Cost -to -serve improved to 32 basis points from 36, and EBITDA increased to AUD 147 million. On flows, workplace and direct are positive. Advised and personal remain challenged, with work underway to enhance AI-enabled member engagement and improve the adviser experience. The MasterKey platform transformation is on track for later this calendar year, supported by our strong partnership with SS&C. Last October, we launched our new direct-to-consumer offering for MLC Super to align with the MLC brand launch, so the brand promise is backed by a better member experience. We're also using AI to scale engagement, enabling more targeted segmentation and personalized experiences across all digital channels. Margin has been impacted by repricing initiatives, including pricing reductions to MasterKey and Plum, and will continue to balance competitiveness with value. In Asset Management , investment outcomes remain a clear strength.
87% of MLC Asset Management funds outperform benchmarks. MLC MySuper Growth is ranked top quartile over five years. We delivered AUD 5 billion of net flows into multi-asset across managed accounts and diversified funds. That was more than offset by outflows and direct capabilities, and predominantly institutionally... which was predominantly institutional rebalancing in fixed income. On earnings, EBITDA was softer, reflecting a mix, reflecting mix and business challenges - sorry, business changes, including the sale of the U.K. commercial property investment manager in October 2025, and repricing of the MLC Multi Series suite in June 2025. Capability depth continues to build. Alternatives has grown to AUD 4 billion since launch. Managed accounts are over AUD 4 billion, and we progressed the private equity program with the close of co-investment Fund IV in December 2025.
We launched a national campaign in October centered on a Lifetime in the Making , drawing on 139 years of heritage while making the message practical and action-oriented, helping Australians reframe super around actions they can take today. We are seeing early positive momentum and tracking. Awareness is up 1 point, consideration up 3 points, and reputation is steady at 70%. We've prepared the campaign with a stronger direct proposition, refreshed MLC.com, and improved direct-to-consumer offering for MLC Super, so the brand promise is backed by a better customer experience. Turning to the scheme update. As previously announced, we entered a Scheme Implementation Deed with CC Capital for AUD 4.80 per share consideration, implying an equity value of approximately AUD 3.3 billion, and a 57% premium to the undisturbed close on the 11th of December, 2024.
The board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the scheme. Implementation remains subject to regulatory approvals, APRA, FIRB, the ACCC, and FCA, but noting ACCC has already approved, shareholder approval and court approval, and the independent experts concluding the scheme is in the best interest of shareholders. We submitted a draft scheme booklet to ASIC and the ASX for review, and the expected timeframe remains the first half of calendar year 2026. I'll now hand over to David Chalmers, our Chief Financial Officer, to go through the financials in detail.
Thanks, Scott, and good morning to everyone on the call. I'll begin the review of financial performance with a summary of our results for the half year ended 31 December 2025. Starting with net revenue of AUD 718.2 million, an increase of 1.8% on first half 2025, driven by, primarily by average FUMA growth of 6%. The revenue outcome for first half 2026 is consistent with the themes underpinning our FY 2026 guidance, namely that growth from higher FUMA and advice revenue would be partly offset by strategic price reductions in wrap and, in particular, in Master Trust. Before turning to comment on costs, a quick reminder that first half 2026 is the first reporting period under our revised operating expense framework.
We now split total operating expenses into base OpEx, and think of those as being the ongoing BAU costs of running the business, and reinvestment OpEx, which captures discretionary investments to support future growth. The intent of this change is to bring above the line the majority of costs that had previously been reported below the line, and therefore adjusted inside UNPAT. So while our five-year plan continues to target a reduction in base OpEx over time, investors should expect average reinvestment OpEx of AUD 60 million-AUD 80 million per annum across the five-year period plan. The first half 2026 base OpEx declined by 6.4% to AUD 449.2 million, while total OpEx decreased by 0.5% to AUD 480 million.
From a profitability perspective, performance improved meaningfully versus first half 2025, with EBITDA up 6.5% to AUD 238.2 million, and underlying net profit after tax increasing by 6.3% to AUD 132.1 million. There was also, to give you an improvement in reported UNPAT, sorry, reported NPAT, improving from a loss of AUD 16.8 million to a profit of AUD 78.8 million. It's worth noting on NPAT, that included in this result is the non-cash impairment for a minority-owned associate entity, which was written down by AUD 17 million. Finally, group net revenue margin in first half 2026 fell from 43.8 basis points to 42. Moving to the next slide. This steps through in more detail, the key drivers of changes in revenue and costs.
Let’s start first with revenue, which is shown on the top chart in slide 14, and I’ll briefly step through each of the movements in the waterfall chart. I commented earlier about the strong financial markets throughout the first half of FY 2026. That drove an AUD 35.5 million increase in FUMA-related revenues, supported by market growth of 3.9% over the six months to 31 December, and as noted earlier, year-on-year average FUMA growth of 6%. Next is the impact of margin decline. Master Trust margins declined by AUD 21.7 million, reflecting the full year impact of the pricing changes to MasterKey and Plum, implemented in October 2024, which were initially fully supported by trustee funding, but is now progressively scaling down.
Wrap margins decreased by AUD 8.5 million following changes to admin pricing fees implemented on the first of June last year. Asset Management margins were 6.3 million dollars lower, largely due to the divestment of our U.K. commercial property manager, Orchard Street, in October 2025, and the repricing of the MLC Multi Series, suite of diversified funds in June 2025. On the positive side, it's pleasing to see advice revenues increase by AUD 7.9 million, driven by growth in client numbers, higher average fees following pricing increases, and stronger schedule market -linked fees due to favorable market conditions.
Finally, in the corporate segment, revenue was AUD 5 million and a bit higher than first half 2025, largely reflecting the absence of an AUD 4.3 million one-off loss recorded in the prior period, in the comparative period, which was the loss on deconsolidation of Rhombus Advisory. Turning now to costs, where it's... To fully understand the cost reduction story, it's important to consider both the costs above the line, so base OpEx and reinvestment OpEx I referred to before, but also the movement in below-the-line costs. Above the line, the base OpEx reduced by net AUD 17.9 million, with a further AUD 12.9 million of costs previously included in base OpEx, now classified as reinvestment OpEx.
Reinvestment OpEx increased by AUD 28.6 million to AUD 30.8 million for first half 2026, tracking a little below our full year expectation of AUD 80 million, albeit with spend forecast to accelerate in the second half of the year. The most material change in costs is in the below-the-line costs. Focusing on UNPAT adjusted cash items, these reduced significantly from AUD 153 million in first half 2025 to AUD 15.9 million in first half 2026, reflecting the completion of separation projects and the reclassification of project-related spend into the above-the-line group OpEx numbers. Moving now to the next slide. The substantial reduction in below-the-line cash spend has translated directly into a strong improvement in free cash flow, which was + AUD 52 million for the period.
Now, by way of comparison, that same number in first half 2025 was AUD -239 million, driven by transformation and separation costs of AUD 100 million, and remediation payments of AUD 102 million. In first half 2026, cash UNPAT increased from 153 to 196 million, with no separation costs incurred as that project is included, and lower remediation payments as those programs near completion. Free cash flow also benefited from a AUD 51 million reduction in IFL corporate balance sheet funded ORFR, consistent with the updated Prudential Standard SPS 114. I'd also note that as historically has been the case, we expect a material improvement in free cash flow in the second half of FY 2026.
Moving from free cash flow to net debt and funding requirements, I guess the first thing to reflect on is how much simpler this profile is compared to prior years, where significant future spend was required for transformation and remediation. Senior leverage at the half was just under 1x net debt to EBITDA, so just 0.9x. It's worth reminding investors that the EBITDA used for our syndicated facility differs from the EBITDA shown on Slide 13, primarily due to the exclusion of profits from certain IFL and subsidiaries for debt covenant purposes. For FY 2026, our future funding requirement for remediation is expected to be AUD 54 million, including the final legacy remediation, as well as the repayment of the AUD 254 million subordinated loan notes prior to May 2026.
We expect closing FY 2026 total leverage of around about 1x net debt to EBITDA, consistent with the capital aspirations outlined in the 5-year business plan, which target ongoing leverage from FY 2027 onwards, at or below 1x net debt to EBITDA. A brief comment on the next slide on dividends, where the approach is the same as was taken when considering the final FY 2025 dividend, being that due to the terms agreed with CC Capital, there'll be no dividend declared under the terms of the Scheme Implementation Deed. There are some provisions to pay a dividend to shareholders under the terms of the SID, if the scheme does not become effective within 12 months of its signing, that is 22nd of July 2026.
After which, we can pay a special dividend on a monthly basis at 50% of monthly UNPAT, so long as net debt after the payment of that dividend is less than AUD 500 million. Finally, turning to guidance for the remainder of FY 2026, we're making three updates. Firstly, while Master Trust's margins were stronger than expected in first half, this largely reflects timing effects, some, but not all of which, we expect to unwind in the second half. These include delays to expected product simplification initiatives that will lower margin, including the rationalization of the capital guarantee product and outsourcing trustee services for retail insurance products.
But these timing benefits are not fully unwind in the second half, meaning that we now expect margins to be modestly higher than original guidance, and we've therefore increased the range from 51-52 basis points to 51.5-52.5 basis points. The second change reflects the second change to guidance relates to Wrap margins, where we've reduced guidance from 27.5-28.5 basis points to 27-28 basis points, again, with most of this movement reflecting timing. But similarly to Master Trust, there is an impact from the slower than expected migration of some of our white label arrangements to Expand, that will increase margin when implemented. But because these are being pushed into early FY 2027, that benefit will also be pushed into 2027.
The second impact to note on first half 2026 margins are the fee tiering, due to higher levels of market growth across the period. The third and final change to guidance is our corporate segment, and it's related to the delayed white label migrations in the Wrap segment I've just commented on, where payment of tax costs associated with that move was previously expected to sit as an expense between corporate gross revenue and corporate net revenue. With that delay that I mentioned, that cost will no longer be incurred in second half 2026, resulting in higher corporate revenue, and we've reflected that in the guidance. Importantly, our cost for guidance remains unchanged for FY 2026, noting as I did earlier, we do expect an acceleration in reinvestment spend in the second half of the year. With guidance covered, that concludes the financial section.
I'll hand back to you, Scott.
Thanks, David. So in terms of how we're progressing on our vision and strategy, the slide summarizes that we are making solid progress on executing the 2030 vision and strategy. Each business has clear work streams. For example, Master Trust is focused on digital direct and scaled engagement, along with the simplification agenda, and Advice focused on growth and efficiency. In the Wrap, we're focused on servicing and AI enablement of adviser efficiency, whilst creating the innovation in the retirement products. And in Asset Management , accelerating our unlisted capabilities. Across the group, there are three common threads: continuous cost excellence, becoming an AI-enabled organization, and building a high performance culture to support our ambition for double-digit earnings growth.
We are tracking, we're tracking clear outcomes to keep ourselves accountable, including the Q1 cost -to -serve, Q1, customer NPS, and Q1 employee engagement. And all of this, all of it ties directly back to the 2030 vision, to be Australia's leading and most efficient diversified wealth manager by 2030. Touch on the Master Trust transformation roadmap. This is a multi-year transformation program, and the sequencing matters. We're working closely with SS&C to transform Master Trust, to simplify the Master Trust business and drive efficiency. There are four streams running in parallel. First, the corporates transformation. This is moving the cohort of employees that'll be moved over to SS&C off our platforms and into the SS&C technology environment. And this is on track for completion in the financial year of 2026, consistent with our mid-calendar 2026 milestone. Second, the platform migrations are sequenced.
MasterKey in the fourth quarter, calendar 2026. The P&I platforms in quarter four, calendar 2027. And finally, Plum will migrate in mid-calendar 2028. The broader objective is to migrate all four technology ecosystems onto Bluedoor by the end of FY 2028. Alongside this stream, we have a third stream, which is around simplification, focused on simplifying operating models, entities, brand, and product simplification. And finally, and importantly, throughout this period, we are investing in the growth levers to continue through our scale engagement, digital product improvements, and retirement offering launches. So we're simplifying while building momentum. And finally, our FY 2026 priorities are as follows: FY 2026 is about delivery, and our priorities are clear and execution led.
First, we are preparing for the Master Trust platform migration to Bluedoor, targeted for the first half of calendar 2027. Second, we will sustain momentum from the MLC relaunch, brand relaunch, and continue building direct engagement. Third, we will continue to convert product innovation into flows, including Retirement Boosts and ongoing wrap momentum, while continuing to strengthen the proposition for advisers and members. Fourth, we're focused on improving Master Trust net flows through deeper member and adviser engagement. Across all of this, the non-negotiables are building and embedding a high performance culture, delivering ongoing net cost reductions, and scaling AI across the enterprise to enable the 2030 vision. I'll now hand back to Andrew for any questions.
Thanks, Scott. We'll hand over to the operator to take questions.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question now, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please limit to one question and one follow-up at a time, and you may rejoin the queue. A moment for our first question. We will now take our first question from the line of Lafitani Sotiriou from MST Financial.
Good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. There's one initial one is, can you just talk us through the scheme process from here, and, and what the price... whether there's any flexibility with the actual price tag, given how well the business has been going, and, and your own thoughts on, on that?
So, Lafi, David here. So the process for the scheme is, the scheme booklet is being finalized, once it's received comments back from ASIC and the ASX. Once we have that, and the independent expert report is in there, that will talk to value. The second thing that I'd highlight we're waiting for is, or more to the point, CC Capital 's response or some feedback on its APRA application. And so that process needs to sort of unfold, and once there is clarity on that, you could expect that we would then be in a position to call a shareholder meeting, with the normal sort of 28-day period for that shareholder meeting.
Once we've gone through the court process to effectively approve both the booklet and the way that we're conducting the vote and those sorts of things. So that's sort of the timetable. There are no mechanisms within the terms of the SID for alterations or changes to the price, other than, as I noted before, if scheme implementation goes beyond the 12-month period, then there is the capacity to pay a special dividend, subject to a number of conditions. So that would be the only thing in the SID that would allow for any variance in terms of consideration.
I'd only add, Lafi, that, you know, the business is performing to the expectations that we laid out in November last year, upon which, you know, the bid has been put to us and accepted unanimously by the board for recommendation to shareholders. It's a very good bid, 57% higher than the undisturbed price at the time of the bid. You know, we are operating in a market that is very competitive and with lots of regulatory oversight and change, and so we are unanimous and remain unanimous as a board that the price that we are recommending to shareholders is should be accepted by shareholders.
Got it. And can I just follow up, in with the detail on the Master Trust roadmap and the replatforming and the cost out. Can you just remind us, so... because it's, you know, it's been a while since you sort of had the Investor Day, Strategy Day, the anticipated cost savings to come through, efficiency gains over 2027, 2028, and beyond?
Over the period to 2030, we stated last year, and that remains the case, that we expect AUD 200 million of cost savings, gross cost savings from the Master Trust business. That represents about half the overall cost savings, gross cost savings that we are expecting to achieve through that period. Our... Yeah, the targets that we sort of set ourselves in November last year, we remain on track to achieve those. About half of those targets or expectations come from the Master Trust migrations and simplification.
Thank you.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone keypad. Once again, it's star one one for questions. I'm showing no further questions. Thank you very much for your question. I'll now turn the conference back to Andrew Ehlich for his closing comments.
Thank you. That concludes today's results presentation. Thank you for your attendance, your ongoing interest and support of Insignia Financial. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions. Thank you.
Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect your line.