Stonehage Fleming has agreed to acquire the investment management activities of London-based Cavendish Asset Management.
The firm was established initially to manage the assets of the Lewis family, but expanded to look after institutional and professional clients; including a number of ultra-high net worth individuals and families.
As part of the acquisition, Stonehage Fleming Investment Management (SFIM) will take over the management of all client portfolios and Cavendish’s range of four Oeic funds – the Cavendish International Fund, Opportunities Fund, AIM Fund, and Balanced Income Fund.
The funds will be rebranded under Stonehage Fleming and sit alongside its existing range of collective vehicles.
All Cavendish clients and assets, representing around £1bn ($1.23bn, €1.14bn) will transfer to SFIM’s management on completion of the transaction, which is set to be on 1 August.
Changes
Four members of the Cavendish senior team will transfer to Stonehage Fleming and continue to manage the funds.
Julian Lewis, currently chief investment officer of Cavendish, will join Graham Wainer, chief executive and head of investments at Stonehage Fleming, as co-chair of an investment committee, which will be established to oversee the management of the assets of the Cavendish client families.
Chris Merry, Stonehage Fleming Group chief executive, said: “Notwithstanding the extraordinary environment, this is an important and exciting time for Stonehage Fleming; we have the scale, the range of services and practical wisdom developed over many years to be the partner of choice for wealthy families with complex needs.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Bolstering pipeline
In other industry news, UK financial planning firm Fairstone has signed up two firms to its downstream buy out (DBO) programme.
The deals bring 1,000 clients, 17 advisers and support staff to the wider business, as well as gross fee income of over £2m and funds under management of £215m.
Kent-based Goodman Chartered Financial Planners specialises in investments and inheritance tax planning and has four advisers, eight support staff and 520 clients.
The firm brings a total fee income of £1.6m and more than £150m in funds under management.
Based in Sidmouth, East Devon Associates specialises in pensions and investments, with two advisers, three support staff and 475 clients.
It has a total fee income of £500,000 and more than £65m funds under management.
Buy out scheme
Fairstone’s DBO programme continues to be a core driver of growth for the business, reversing the traditional buy and build approach, with integration playing a key role in a firm joining the programme.
The scheme integrates advice businesses into the group within a two-year period.
Most recently, Newcastle-headquartered Fairstone Group bolstered its presence in the south and east of England after acquiring Hamlyn Financial Services in Norfolk and Hertfordshire-based Wagstaffs Wealth Management in January 2020.
The business made eight acquisitions in 2019 via its DBO model.
Lee Hartley, Fairstone chief executive, said: “We are always looking for strong, high quality businesses with ambitious growth plans to join Fairstone and whilst we recognise that we are all moving into a different climate with challenges ahead, we are in a strong position and we will continue to onboard new DBO firms at our forecasted volume.
“Collectively, Fairstone is in a good place to deliver continued growth and excellent client service throughout 2020 and beyond.”
Funding
In March 2020, Fairstone secured additional acquisition finance from European asset manager Alcentra.
The funding figure was not disclosed.
Fairstone told International Adviser in March that it will underpin acquisitions that the firm makes for the “next seven years”.
