10.

UK law firm Irwin Mitchell's wealth management arm – Irwin Mitchell Asset Management – completed a deal to acquire Leeds-based wealth manager Andrews Gwynne.

The deal will add specialist investment management capacity to Irwin Mitchell's asset management team, as well as providing Irwin Mitchell the opportunity to offer its legal services to Andrews Gwynne's clients.

The acquisition is expected to increase assets under management (AUM) to £1.2 billion.

9.

The Swiss Federal Council opted to cancel or reduce all outstanding variable remuneration for the top three levels of management at Credit Suisse, following its collapse and subsequent takeover by UBS.

The bank also has to examine whether variable remuneration already paid out can be recovered, and report to the relevant authorities on the matter.

At Credit Suisse, all outstanding variable remuneration up to the end of 2022 will be cancelled for the highest level of management – the executive board. It will be reduced by 50 percent for members of management one level below the executive board and by 25 percent for those two levels below.

8.

Bristol-based Clifton Asset Management acquired GB Financial Services, a financial advisory firm in Wombourne, West Midlands.

This is the firm’s fourth acquisition in nine months and sixth overall. Through this acquisitive strategy, Clifton is aiming to reach £5 billion in AUM by 2027.

Its purchase of GB Financial Services – which has around 550 clients – will help with this and should take its AUM to around £1.2 billion.

This is an increase of over £500 million since Clifton received first round funding from independent asset manager Boost&Co in July 2022.

7.

Challenger investment management firm O-IM appointed Tom Hind as a business development director, Katie Royals reports. 

Mr Hind has a number of years of financial services experience, particularly in the tax-efficient investment space.

He joined the firm from Stellar Asset Management, where he was a senior business development manager.

In his new role, Mr Hind will be responsible for leading O-IM’s business development efforts, focussed on enhancing and developing client relationships.

6.

At first glance the purchase of Credit Suisse by UBS will create a global wealth management titan with around $3.4 trillion of invested assets, according to a slide that appeared in the presentation that accompanied the announcement of the deal, Ian Orton writes. 

Not only will the deal provide the enlarged UBS with additional scale, especially in the very rich and entrepreneurial market segments, the addition of Credit Suisse’s wealth management operations will complement its existing positioning in the increasingly important southeast Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern markets.

Win, win, win, for UBS, especially given the deeply discounted price of CHF 3 billion it paid for its new purchase?

5.

Ruffer appointed Neil McLeish as co-chief investment officer alongside Henry Maxey.

Mr McLeish’s appointment continues the succession planning started in 2010 by the firm's founder, Jonathan Ruffer, who will remain as chair and continue to be closely involved in Ruffer’s investment strategy.

Since 2010, Ruffer’s investment strategy and asset allocation have been set jointly by Mr Maxey and Mr Ruffer, supported by a team of senior fund managers and research analysts.

4.

Private bank Arbuthnot Latham appointed Helen Keen as head of UK private banking.

Ms Keen has over 30 years’ experience in the sector, spanning both private and commercial banking, with additional experience across strategic transformation and credit.

She joined Arbuthnot Latham from Coutts, where she was a managing director, having been at the firm for over three decades.

3.

Progress stalled at RBC Brewin Dolphin in its last year as an independent entity, with income marking time and pre-tax profits and client AUM both falling, Ian Orton reports. 

Nonetheless, the firm claimed to have made further progress during the year in its quest to become an advice-led wealth manager with financial planning-related income, registering a double digit increase.

RBC Brewin Dolphin became a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on 22 September 2022, just days before the close of its financial year on 31 September 2022.

As a consequence, with the firm no longer a London-listed entity, its most recent results were only deposited at Companies House in March 2023.

These showed that the firm generated total income of £377.7 million for the year to 31 September 2022, a marginal increase of £3.9 million or 1.0 percent on the £373.9 million posted for the previous year.  

2.

LGT Wealth Management certainly made a splash with its first acquisition.

The firm recently announced it was acquiring abrdn’s DFM business for £140 million, which will add around £6 billion of assets under management (AUM) to the firm.

Upon close LGT Wealth Management’s AUM should exceed £28 billion, an increase from £22 billion in January 2023.

Ben Snee, LGT Wealth Management’s chief executive, sat down with Katie Royals to discuss what the acquisition means for the firm. [Read more] 

1.

Rathbones and Investec Wealth & Investment (W&I) entered into an all-share combination to create the UK’s “leading discretionary wealth manager,” the firms announced.

The combined entity – referred to as the enlarged Rathbones Group – will have approximately £100 billion of funds under management and administration.

Under the terms of the combination, new Rathbones shares will be issued in exchange for 100 percent of Investec W&I UK's share capital.

The enlarged Rathbones Group will remain an independent listed company operating under the Rathbones brand with Investec Group as a long-term, strategic shareholder.

The terms of the combination value Investec W&I UK at approximately £839 million.

Both firms have long been assiduous acquirers of UK-based wealth management firms to the point at which they are usually identified as potential purchasers whenever any potential target emerges.

Sometimes, as was the case back in 2005 when both firms made bids for Leeds-based Rensburg, they have found themselves in direct competition with each other. [Read more about Ian Orton's take on the deal] 

It is fair to say many were surprised by the announcement, Katie Royals writes. 

According to Investec’s investor presentation, this is almost double the combined entity’s next nearest rival – RBC Brewin Dolphin, which itself was only formed in September 2022, at £52 billion.

It is clear from this that size is a key motivator for both firms.

Indeed, Fani Titi, Investec group chief executive, and Paul Stockton, Rathbones chief executive, both emphasised the importance of scale in the industry.

Mr Titi stressed the merger “gives us the right scale that will enable us to grow”.