Swedish wealth manager Söderberg & Partners said today (16 April) it has made investments in four further IFA firms in the UK bringing the total to 11 to date.
The four firms are:
• Courtney Havers, a Tunbridge Wells-based firm founded by industry veteran Ray Tuffield. Courtney Havers prides itself on helping individuals, families and businesses achieve financial freedom.
• Bespoke-Advice Ltd, a Chartered IFA practice of 30 people advising on £630m of client assets. With offices in Worcester and London City, Bespoke-Advice is one of a small number of B-Corp registered IFA firms in the UK.
• Clear Financial Advice, a client-focused company managing £120m of assets. The firms tailors its advice carefully to each client, and values strong relationships and long-term professional partnerships with accountants and solicitors to help clients achieve their aims.
• Bigmore Associates, based in Walton-on-Thames, which covers a wide range of financial advice from investments and pensions to mortgages, wills, payroll and employee benefits.
Gustaf Rentzhog, chief executive officer at Söderberg & Partners, said: “We are not a consolidator, rather our goal is to support passionate entrepreneurs to achieve their vision for their advice businesses. In the UK we have found many strong examples of fantastic businesses which deliver outstanding outcomes to their clients, and we are pleased to back them with our scale and resources.”
Ray Tuffield, Founder of Courtney Havers, said: “We have got to know Söderberg & Partners extremely well over the past 12 months and have been impressed with their plans to support our future development and growth. Culturally, they are an excellent fit for us, and we are very please to partner with them.”
Alex Morley, managing director of Bespoke-Advice, said: “Our strategy of acquiring retiring adviser books to ensure a continuation of independent advice through our employed advisers is well received by clients and retiring advisers alike. Our culture and ethos align perfectly with Söderberg, allowing the opportunity for us to accelerate growth whilst remaining true to our core values and beliefs.”
Barry Greening, founder and director of Clear Financial Advice, said: “We’re delighted to share the news of our partnership with Söderberg & Partners. From the start, it was clear that our values were perfectly matched with Söderberg’s dynamic approach. Anticipation is high as we initiate the next stage of our company’s progression with a long-held desire to broader our services into specialised sectors. This alliance with Söderberg & Partners sets us on a promising new trajectory for the ultimate benefit of our clients.”
Adam Nettleship, managing director of Bigmore Associates, added: “Working with Söderberg & Partners, a firm with a proven track record in developing technology to improve the advice process and experience, will enable us to be leaders of the futures of financial planning. We will continually evolve our services to enhance quality and value for our clients.”
In September last year, Söderberg & Partners announced it had made investments in three other advice firms: Timothy James & Partners; Dartington Wealth Management; and Atherton York. These marked Söderberg’s first major investments in the UK.
In December, Söderberg & Partners announced it would acquire a minority stake in London-based Generation Financial Services.
Earlier this year the group revealed plans to buy a significant minority stake in Bath-based advisory firm Fidelius for an undisclosed sum as well as investing in London wealth manager Vintage and Croydon based PK Financial. This means Söderberg & Partners has now made investments into a total of 11 UK advice firms.
