Fast-growing Financial Planner and wealth manager Kingswood Group has ruled out a sale of the business after a strategic review.

In March, the company confirmed it was considering a potential sale.

At the time, after press speculation, it said discussions had taken place, “with regard to its strategic options, including, but not limited to, a potential sale or third party investment into the company's UK business operations.”

However, after a strategic review, the company, which reported a 10% rise in first half group operating profit last week, has decided that a sale of the company was not the way ahead.

In a statement to Financial Planning Today, the company said: “As a UK listed firm, we were required to respond to the March national press speculation in the most transparent way and to cover every possible eventuality.

“As you might expect for a business such as ours, we are regularly in discussion with our existing and sometimes possible new investors to support our growth ambitions. However, and to be clear, the business is not for sale and we are more focussed than ever in our objective to build a leading business in the sector.”

Kingswood’s latest profit figures were boosted by organic growth and acquisitions of adviser businesses although its US operation was hit by a drop in capital markets business.

Kingswood has acquired numerous UK and US Financial Planning and Wealth Management firms in recent years including Berkshire-based Financial Planner Barry Fleming & Partners for £6.2m in January and JFP Holdings Limited, the parent company of Cheshire Chartered Financial Planner JFP Financial Services Limited, for £12.4m in December.

The company has made more than 15 acquisitions since the start of 2021, adding over £3.2bn of assets under management and advice and £11.8m of additional revenue in 2022.

Two further transactions are at an advanced stage, the firm said recently.

In its latest profit figures, Kingswood reported UK & Ireland revenue up by 41% compared to the same period last year, of which 86% is recurring. The group added an additional 16 UK financial advisers in the period to push the total to 116.

While the UK interim revenue and profit figures showed improvement, the group, which operates in the UK and US, says it continues to face challenging economic conditions.