Effie Zahos to depart Money Magazine after acquisition by Rainmaker, but Paul Clitheroe to remain
Bauer Media has announced the sale of Money magazine to financial services research house Rainmaker.
Money editor Effie Zahos and deputy editor Maria Bekiaris will provide Rainmaker Group with their editorial services to assist with the transition, however they have chosen not to continue past the transition period.
Zahos is a financial literacy campaigner who authored A Real Girl’s Guide to Money: From Converse to Louboutins.
The Telum newsletter reports Zahos will remain with Bauer and liaise with editors across the Bauer brands.
Paul Clitheroe will continue in his role as Money’s chairman and chief commentator.
Established in 1999, Money is Australia’s longest running and most-read personal finance magazine.
The April issue is the final edition Bauer will produce.
Following the purchase, Money magazine will become Rainmaker’s key consumer title under its media division, Financial Standard.
It currently publishes five B2B titles, including its flagship newspaper, and three B2C titles: The Good Super Guide, The Good Investment Guide and The Good Economics Guide.
“This is our first major acquisition since our media division, Financial Standard, was established in 2003. While we have steadily built our business in trade media, this acquisition meets our longer-term objective of growing our consumer media platform,” said Christopher Page, founder and group managing director of Rainmaker.
Following the deal, Rainmaker Group has announced new leadership roles with Michelle Baltazar, executive director of media at Financial Standard, to assume the role of editor-in-chief.
Darren Snyder, editor of Financial Standard, will move to the role of managing editor of Money.
Besieged Bauer Media ANZ CEO Paul Dykzeul said the sale was due to a desire to focus on ‘core consumer brands’.
Rainmaker Group's core revenue stream comes from providing financial information to superannuation funds, investment managers, and financial planners.
The Rainmaker Group was founded in 1992 providing market intelligence, industry research, media and publishing, events and consulting services.
Rainmaker publishes four B2B journals alongside the Financial Standard newspaper: FS Advice, FS Super, FS Private Wealth and FS Managed Accounts.
Baltazar has more than 15 years' experience in financial services media including roles at BRW in Sydney and Shares Magazine in London. She joined Financial Standard in 2005.
"We hold Effie and Maria in high regard and wish them well in their future endeavours," Page said.
"Effie's strong leadership and editorship has enabled Money to boast the loyal reader following that it has today."
New editor-in-chief of Money, Michelle Baltazar said they have built a solid foundation from which "we can further build Money's reputation as the leading source of personal finance news and expert advice".
It was 2012 when the heavily indebted Nine Entertainment group sold Australian Consolidated Press, which published Money Magazine, to German media group Bauer for a reported $500 million.