The UK wealth manager has extended its regional presence with the acquisition of a firm in the South West of England.

UK independent financial advisor group Ascot Lloyd has acquired Harvard Financial Management, a business based in Dorset in the South West of England, part of a continuing process of mergers and tie-ups in wealth management.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed yesterday. 

Harvard specialises in providing pensions, investment, wealth management, financial planning and life insurance services to private clients.

A number of Ascot Lloyd financial advisors will join the nine Harvard staff based in Christchurch, Dorset, as part of a “collaborative approach”, Ascot Lloyd said.

The acquisition is an example of a trend of M&A activity in the financial advisor and wealth management space, prompted by rising regulatory costs and a need for scale. This publication recently interviewed the chief executive of Fairstone Group, one of a number of IFA “aggregators” building networks via acquisitions. (For more on that story, see here.)

Harvard will trade as Harvard Financial Management, part of the Ascot Lloyd Group, Ascot Lloyd said in a statement. 

Ascot Lloyd employs 168 staff managing more than £2 billion from locations including London, Christchurch, Manchester, Wokingham, Cardiff, Rickmansworth, Harrogate and Wolverhampton. In early July, Ascot Lloyd launched a private office to provide wealth management services to high net worth individuals and families, typically those with net investable assets of at least £500,000 ($647,000). (See here.)