Fairstone’s acquisitions this year have seen the firm bolster client assets under management by £2bn, the firm has said, as it announced a further 13 acquisitions in the pipeline.
The wealth management group bought eight practices across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the first three months of 2026 as it seeks to strengthen its geographic footprint across the UK.
The deals included the largest purchase to date – the acquisition of West Midlands wealth management and corporate financial planning specialist Prosperity Wealth in February.
All eight firms acquired in the first quarter of 2026 were brought into Fairstone via the Downstream Buy-Out (DBO) model, which offers initial, minority equity investment, operational resource, and regulatory support to partner firms, allowing them to focus on unlocking growth and building profitability without being held back by increasing regulatory headwinds or by back-office or compliance workload.
Partner firms, once fully integrated, are then able to sell to Fairstone, ensuring they realise maximum value when the time is right for them and then continue to share in the proceeds of their growth following full acquisition.
Fairstone CEO Steven Cooper CBE said: “Every one of the eight firms who became part of Fairstone during Q1 brings something new to the business and strengthens the group as we look to help many more people achieve their financial goals and face the future with confidence.”
Steve McNicol, Chief Development Officer at Fairstone, said the firms that were fully acquired in the first quarter of 2026 would be joined by several others during the course of year, with a further 13 acquisitions scheduled.
“Much of the rest of 2026 is already mapped out for partner firms planning to complete their DBO journey, culminating in their full acquisition this calendar year,” he said.
“One of the great benefits of the ability to consistently bring the right firms into the DBO programme is that this translates directly into a highly predictable pipeline of full acquisitions, delivering certainty for principals and for Fairstone.”
Fairstone is also expecting more firms to join the DBO programme this year.
McNicol said: “We will continue to choose partner firms carefully to ensure they match our ambitions and vision to be the most trusted wealth management group in the UK and Ireland.”
