Financial planner Tenet has bought Forth Financial Services, a financial advisory business headquartered in Edinburgh.
October 29, 2019Advice firm Clifton Asset Management has acquired Leonard Gold Financial Management as part of its drive to grow a network of appointed representatives.
Bristol-based Clifton is taking on the Southsea firm initially as an AR with plans to purchase the adviser in 2021.
The move follows Clifton’s recent acquisition of Plan for Life Wealth Management, and feeds into its plans to build “centres of excellence”.
These are hubs where smaller advice firms gain access to the services and products provided by Clifton, to allow them to compete with larger rivals.
Clifton’s group financial planning director Anthony Carty says: “These smaller advisory firms are finding current and foreseeable regulatory pressures such as Mifid and the senior managers regime are making life more and more difficult for them.
“They can see that joining forces with a larger firm with great technology and deeper resources makes eminent sense.”
Clifton says it has a series of future acquisition targets, and is now seeking an external funder to speed up its growth plans.
Carty adds: “Whilst we can continue to make modest progress with our consolidation plans via our own resources, we’ve had many very positive conversations with advice businesses, and with a strong pipeline developed, it is now our intention to significantly accelerate those plans and this will require an external funding partner.”
Nas Khan, principle adviser at Leonard Gold, says: “We met with a variety of differing potential acquirers and we felt that the flexible approach that Clifton offers suited our business well.
“Clifton’s client centric approach and the various tools it has at its disposal, including pension provider Morgan Lloyd, a low cost investment platform and recently launched DFM, Eden Park, leaves me confident that our clients will be well looked after.”