We understand the challenges of managing the legal and compliance requirements for ASX listed entities and pre-IPO entities with external investors and stakeholders. We are able to offer these insights as our principals have sat on the Boards of, or advised, hundreds of companies both ASX listed and unlisted over the past 25 years. Our clients engage us not only for our technical expertise, but our pragmatism and nuanced commercial understanding of the various drivers that create shareholder value and propel companies forward.

We take immense pride in our work, and this is matched by the enthusiasm and passion of the Boards and management we work with. If these values are not aligned, then the roles are simply not for us. We believe in long term partnerships with each of our clients, which forms the foundation of Confidant Partners.

Whether your company has an existing company secretarial function that needs additional bench strength, or require the entire company secretarial function fulfilled, we can tailor a proposal that caters to your requirements. Our principals founded, managed and built one of the largest outsourced company secretarial and corporate legal service providers in Australia.

Company secretaries (especially for ASX listed entities) is a specialised and often, misunderstood role. It is an important role as it is generally the first point of contact between the company and a shareholder or the company and a regulator (ASX/ASIC). As a result, experience is crucial and plays an amplified role in ensuring that the right company secretarial support is provided to satisfy the needs of the company. At Confidant Partners, we have a deep understanding of this, and pride ourselves in achieving this tailored fit and empowering the Boards and management in our ecosystem.

We have witnessed first-hand how impactful and cost effective it is for our clients to have an experienced company secretary on board but also, to have seamless direct access to highly qualified and experienced corporate partners and lawyers that are able to provide trustworthy and precise counsel on a moment’s notice. This is particularly important for our clients that operate and manage listed companies, as the requirement for legal and company secretarial advice, often overlap – especially when the complexity of the ASX Listing Rules and the Corporations Act, are considered.

As a result, a hybrid retainer that covers both company secretarial and corporate legal services is by far, the most popular retainer of choice for our clients. Given the flexibility of our retainer, we often work closely with in-house/general counsels (to provide additional bench strength) and their external legal advisers (to project manage significant transactions on the company’s behalf).

Our company secretarial services already includes a comprehensive suite of Board advisory services, as we believe that a core competency of a company secretary needs to be the ability to provide timely, accurate and pragmatic advice to the Board and management across a diverse range of corporate and commercial issues.

However, to the extent that a similar level of advice needs to be provided outside of the company secretarial engagement, we provide these Board advisory services. This is particularly relevant to our clients that do not require the company secretarial support, but nevertheless, benefit from having access to our experienced principals across issues that ordinarily find their ways to boardrooms. This includes project management of complex transactions and/or capital raisings, managing conflicts, engagement with shareholders or other interested stakeholders, and assistance with sensitive issues such as continuous disclosure.

Our company secretarial services already includes a comprehensive suite of governance advisory services, as the management and delivery of appropriate governance frameworks remains at the core of the company secretarial function.

However, to the extent that a similar level of advice needs to be provided outside of the company secretarial engagement, we provide these governance advisory services. These can be as high level as a governance “health check” which can be tabled at the appropriate risk committee meeting for further consideration, to “deep dives” into specific and discrete governance issues that warrant extra attention.

Confidant Partners offers, on a case-by-case basis, services as a Non-Executive Director (of Australian based entities) which will be undertaken by one of our principals or sourced through our professional network. Given our extensive experience in the venture-backed, pre-IPO and ASX listed landscape, we have access to a diverse range of experienced executives and/or directors that may be suitable for certain Board appointments.