EBITDA rose 132% to £91.7m for the first half of 2021 at wealth manager and Financial Planner Tilney Smith & Williamson with gross new business inflows of £3.2bn (H1 2020: £1.4bn) representing 12.5% of opening assets (on an annualised basis).

Assets under management increased 7% from the end of 2020 to £54.8bn to over double the £25.6bn recorded by Tilney before the acquisition of Smith & Williamson.

Group operating income increased 157.5% to £261.9m (H1 2020: £101.7m) with Smith & Williamson contributing £139.1m of operating income during H1 2021 following on from the merger in 2020. On a pro forma basis, operating income increased by 5.9% (H1 2020 pro forma: £247.2m).

The financial services segment (including Financial Planning) generated £203.7m of operating income (H1 2020: £101.7m). The professional services segment, created following the acquisition of Smith & Williamson, generated £51.3m. The fund administration segment, also created following the acquisition of Smith & Williamson, generated £6.8m of operating income. 

Net new business inflows were £1bn (H1 2020: £0.4bn), representing 3.9% of opening assets on an annualised basis.

Chris Woodhouse, chief executive at Tilney Smith & Williamson, said the growth was a combination of “strong organic growth” and the completion of the acquisition of HFS Milbourne which added £376m AUM in the second quarter.

He said: “We have a strong pipeline of new business opportunities across both financial services and professional services and also have an active hiring programme for additional talent across both divisions.

“Since the merger transaction completed, excellent progress has been made with the integration and we are also ahead of where we expected to be in realising the merger synergies. The design of operating models for central functions is complete and largely implemented.

“A key component of our strategy is our digital transformation agenda, which is aimed at enhancing client experience, developing our propositions and simplifying the business to support productivity. The acceleration in our pace of digital transformation this year is the start of a multi-year plan to create leading-edge and scalable front-to-back financial services and professional services platforms.”

Mr Woodhouse added that the firm is making good progress in consolidating offices in those locations where there was overlap. The firm plans to move into new headquarters at 45 Gresham Street, London in spring 2022. He said the new HQ is designed to support a “smart working model” that can accommodate staff working in the office, from their homes or other locations.

Tilney Group Limited changed its name to Tilney Smith & Williamson Limited following completion of the Smith & Williamson acquisition on 1 September 2020. The pro forma H1 2020 figures reflect the combined position of the legacy Tilney and Smith & Williamson businesses prior to completion of the merger on 1 September 2020.