The firm is finalising plans of its acquisition of a US-based financial advisor and broker-dealer. This publication interviewed the CEO of European Wealth to discuss the future of the business.

It’s all change at the London-based firm European Wealth. It is putting finishing touches on its purchase of a US firm and is rebranding, likely to say goodbye to its existing name. And now its chief executive is talking of a growth charge across the UK.

This publication reported in October 2017 that EWG had agreed to acquire Newbridge, and had announced preliminary plans to rebrand itself.

Marianne Ismail, CEO, has told this publication during an interview that the north of England is next on its growth plan.

“We have done some restructuring and we are aiming to have a hub structure, with London being a hub, Manchester being a hub and East Malling being a hub,” said Ismail. “East Malling may not seem a usual place to have a hub but that is where our financial para-planners are based. The aim for the business is to acquire more businesses in those three areas.”

“One of the areas we are light in is the north of England, in the sense that there is a lot of wealth there and businesses there and so there are a lot of financial planning and investment management opportunities. We may also get another hub in the future, maybe somewhere like Scotland, as there is a lot of wealth too. But the plan is to do Manchester first. We have hired some people in the last few months and one in particular will have a Manchester focus.” 

According to the New World Wealth in 2017, wealth, spending and house prices in the northwest of the UK are rising. Manchester is expected to double the number of its high net worth individuals by 2026, beating the 30 per cent growth forecast for London.

Newbridge
The firm is set close to finalising the acquisition of broker-dealer Newbridge Securities and financial advisor Newbridge Financial Services. Newbridge has a US nationwide network of more than 220 advisors and associates, over 12,000 clients and oversees some $1.7 billion in assets. It holds a licence to operate in all states, apart from Maine. 

The CEO of the firm said that its wealth-trading operation will profit most from the deal.

“The one area that is going benefit from the Newbridge acquisition is the wealth-trading side of the business,” said Ismail. “Newbridge is a broker-dealer, and they have investment management, financial planning and investment banking operations. The firm is looking to introduce a number of products. We are looking to become specialists in the alternative space, and be able to sell those products to retail clients in the US, but retail in the US goes up to $3 million, which are more sophisticated clients. In the UK, we would have to deal with clients who have the experience and are properly diversified, but in the US it’s a different structure.”

“We have now got to the final stage of getting regulatory approval. I was out in the US two weeks ago, and met with FINRA. They asked me a few questions and now it is in the final stages. I am not quite sure when it will happen, but in the next couple of months we hope," she said.

Rebrand
Due to the acquisition and the expansion into the US, European Wealth is not a name that can breakthrough into the markets across the states, and it wants a “global nature” to the business.

The firm is looking to rebrand as Kingswood, a subsidiary of Kingswood Property Finance, which in June 2017 took a 39.99 per cent stake in European Wealth, after EWG sold some 48 million shares to raise funds to repay its debt, which included £2 million ($2.6 million) under a bridge financing facility and £1.14 million related to other acquisitions. 

Since European Wealth was founded in 2010, it had been partially funded by debt. 

Ismail discussed the reasons behind the rebrand, and what this will mean for the future of the company.

“Since we acquired Newbridge in the US, they would like us to have a new name,” said Ismail. “European Wealth does not fit having a business that is half in the US. We have searched around and Kingswood came up as a new name for us. It actually was a branch of another Kingswood that has a 40 per cent stake in European Wealth, so we have assumed its name. And that also means we have its logo and branding. We have had shareholder approval to change the name, and we are waiting to get the FINRA approval, and working on websites, as well as other changes we need to make.”

Ismail added: “We are looking around May or June time for moving forward with the name change. It would be something like Kingswood Wealth or Kingswood Financial Planning. The idea of having a single name that is applied to lots of different businesses makes a lot of sense. We want to continue to acquire and I think we have got possibilities of acquisition in the UK as well as in the US. Once we get Newbridge on board, probably our priority will be the UK. It will have to be a business that fits our structure which we now have, which is four. We are going to keep Kingswood Securities separate from European Wealth, so the businesses do not jam together as we will have different regulators we will have to work with.”

Asia
The firm believes in its globalisation strategy and Ismail also discussed its plans for a possible expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. 

“We are also looking to have an institutional sales force, so then we have an Asian leg because there is no point in us hiring private bankers or bankers in Asia, when you have all private banks they already in business,” said Ismail. “The way forward would be to be able to supply them with products. That’s how we are growing.”