UK-based wealth manager Saltus Group has secured a significant investment from European private equity firm Preservation Capital Partners (PCP) for an undisclosed sum.
The funding will support Saltus’ goal to be the “leading vertically integrated high net worth (HNW) wealth management firm in the UK”.
As part of the deal, PCP will hold a majority stake, alongside management and the existing long term shareholder base of high net worth individuals.
It will not impact Saltus’ clients in any way and the Saltus brand will be retained.
Andrea Secci, managing director of PCP, and Jatender Aujla, managing partner of PCP, will join the board of Saltus.
Growth
The firms said the backing will “significantly accelerate” Saltus’s current growth plans through greater access to capital, further investment in technology and broaden the reach of the Saltus Partnerships Programme (SPP).
The SPP is a newly created initiative aimed at advisers looking for a long-term exit strategy. It is designed to catalyse the growth in their businesses and maximise value while allowing the adviser to retain control.
Jon Macintosh, managing partner at Saltus, said: “We have grown significantly over the past few years – both organically and through the acquisitions we have made – and as a result are seeing increasing demand from high net worth clients for our goal-focussed financial planning and wealth management services.
“The next step in our evolution is to create an offering to support the UK’s most sophisticated and high-end financial advisers so that they can grow their business faster, maximise value, and focus on doing the bits of their job they love the most – looking after clients and winning new ones.
“We believe PCP’s insight, experience and capital will significantly enhance our ability to expand the Saltus business and cement our position as the leading HNW wealth manager in the UK.”
This comes two weeks after Saltus made its second acquisition of 2022 with the purchase of financial planning firm Higgins Fairbairn Advisory (HFA) for an undisclosed sum. Saltus has been active in the M&A market over the past year – and has previously bought NSL Wealth in March 2022, and Fish Financial in September 2021.
Wealth management experience
Secci added: “The central principle of our investment approach is to back outstanding management teams that have demonstrated an ability to outperform the market. Saltus has industry-leading double-digit organic growth rates, incredibly high retention and a unique vertically integrated business model. We are delighted to be supporting the firm to supercharge growth and make that ambition a reality.”
PCP is no stranger to the UK wealth management market.
In March 2021, the PE firm bought adviser platform Parmenion from Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA), now Abrdn, in a deal worth up to £102m ($124m, €122m).
As the deal finalised, PCP sold a 30% stake in Parmenion to Martin Gilbert-backed AssetCo. PCP still owns 70% of platform Parmenion.
