Kingswood, the City of London-based wealth manager and Financial Planner backed by private equity, has made three senior hires as it gears up for expansion.

Harriet Griffin joins as chief operating officer from Charles Stanley, Richard Bernstein joins from Close Brothers Asset Management as chief risk officer and Kirsten Owbridge assumes a new role of managing director - Group HR.

The company says its “key focus” for 2020 will be acquiring adviser businesses in the UK and the US. It says it has a number of “significant transactions” under due diligence at present. 

In 2019 it bought WFI Financial, an independent regional Financial Planning business based in Sheffield with offices in Derby, Grimsby and Lincoln, for £14m.

Last year it also acquired a fledgling Californian investment adviser in a deal worth £3.1m in December, its second acquisition of a US advisory firm.

The AIM-listed firm uses a Financial Planning-approach to wealth management and employs a growing number of Certified and Chartered Financial Planners. Its advisers use cashflow modelling.

Last year the firm received £80m in backing from private equity firm Pollen Street Capital which has helped fund the expansion.

Gary Wilder, group CEO, said: "2019 was a milestone year for Kingswood as the growth capital from Pollen Street allowed the firm to capitalise on the consolidation opportunities available in the global wealth management market.

“We are building a very strong and experienced management team in the UK and US to take advantage of the opportunities in both markets. We have already seen a strong start to the year, and with several imminent acquisitions in the UK, expect the business to grow substantially."