Perspective acquires adviser firms in North and South
Fast-growing national Financial Planner Perspective Financial Group has completed two acquisitions, bringing its total to 11 this year and 89 since the group was founded 16 years ago.
The latest transactions add £185m in assets, 530 households as clients and a further office near Sheffield, bringing its total number of offices to 39.
The first acquisition is of Whittington Goddard Associates Ltd in Dore, near Sheffield. The firm was founded in 2003. The office will be known as Perspective (Whittington Goddard).
Co-founder Richard Whittington said: “We decided to join Perspective following a number of meetings with members of the board and senior management team.
“It was obvious that they shared our commitment to providing focussed face-to-face advice and this gave us confidence that our clients will be well served long into the future.”
The second acquisition is Copthorne Financial Services in Egham, Surrey whose clients will, predominantly, be served by Perspective’s existing nearby office in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Some clients will be served from other Perspective offices where these are geographically closer and more convenient for them.
Director Nick Blackford said: “I have been reviewing my ‘LifePlan’ over the last few years and wanted to make sure that my staff and clients would be looked after when I decided to retire from the financial services profession. It was important to me to find an acquirer who had the same culture, ethos and ethics as myself.
“Perspective provided me with the confidence that they would meet all of my criteria and provide my staff and clients with the best place for their long term future needs and requirements.”
Ian Wilkinson, chief executive of Perspective, said: “We thank both Richard and Nick for putting their faith in us when deciding on the most suitable acquirer for their businesses.
“Both businesses ticked the boxes for us in terms of client-centricity, and our flexible deal structures has allowed both Richard and Nick to sell to us on terms that suit them. We look forward to a busy final quarter of 2024 and hope to continue to announce further high- quality acquisitions in the coming months.”
Perspective has 560 staff, 39 local offices and 150 Financial Planners, a quarter of whom are qualified to Chartered level or above. It manages £8bn of assets on behalf of clients.
The firm’s growth this year has been funded through investment from US-based private equity group Charlesbank Capital Partners.
CBPE invested in the Financial Planning firm in 2019, with Perspective using much of the funding to complete more than 45 acquisitions, all of which have now been fully integrated into the group.
Perspective said as a result of the fresh cash injection from Boston’s Charlesbank, it expects to double in size again within the next two years.