Jardine Lloyd Thompson, the UK-based employee benefits consultancy, has acquired the companies within the iimia Wealth Management division of Midas Capital in a move to build out its position in the private client market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

JLT has already been advising private clients for some time, but has recently seen increased demand for these services as more people opt to make personal pension arrangements over utilising occupational pension schemes.

Through the acquisition of iimia Wealth Management JLT adds a team of 20 financial advisors to its roster – which the firm said will more than double the capacity of its private client business. Karen McCaffrey, chief executive of iimai Wealth Management, will also join JLT to take overall responsibility for the enlarged private clients division.

In addition to enlarging JLT’s private client division the deal will also add discretionary portfolio services to the firm’s offering; some £250 million (around $400 million) of iimia Wealth Management’s total £600 million in funds under advice is managed on a discretionary basis. JLT not only predicts that demand for discretionary portfolio management is set to grow, but also views these services as more compatible with reforms to advisors’ remuneration structures resulting from the UK regulator’s Retail Distribution Review: rather than traditional commission arrangements, under the RDR the FSA proposes that advisors work instead on the basis of prearranged fees.

"This acquisition marks another step towards the realisation of the strategic objectives for our UK Employee Benefits business. We aim to be a leading provider of the full range of capabilities required in today's pension and retirement savings marketplace. Pensions and retirement savings remains a key focus of our Employee Benefits business and it is not our strategy to develop more broadly as a generalist IFA firm,” Dominic Burke, JLT’s chief executive, said in a statement.

“As all aspects of pension arrangements become increasingly a matter of individual choice, the related demand for personal financial advice and discretionary wealth management is bound to grow. Our new colleagues will give us enhanced capacity to meet that demand."