The latest mergers, acquisitions and other corporate actions in the wealth management sector.

Radiant 
Radiant has acquired the assets of Doncaster-based IFA, Ethos Financial Solutions, which has £300 million ($369 million) in assets under management, as well as 18 members of staff, including five advisors.

It is Radiant’s first transaction in Yorkshire, and it plans to expand significantly in the region using Ethos as a hub.

Radiant, a consolidator of like-minded IFA businesses, said it continues to look for acquisition opportunities across the UK. The group said it is keen to speak with IFAs who would prefer to focus more on servicing their clients than having to deal with the “infrastructure” of the business. Radiant said it is also interested in talking to IFAs who are looking for a capital event as they focus on the next stage of their career or life in general.

The deal is an example of a consolidation and M&A trend in UK wealth management in the IFA space, as advisors seek to pool costs, or look for routes to sell a business and retire, at a time of rising compliance and client demands. Similar forces are driving such consolidation among registered investment advisors in the US. Data from law firm Mayer Brown, issued yesterday, showed that the number of M&A deals targeting UK financial advisors and wealth managers rose by 11 per cent from 398 to a record high of 440 in the past year.

Targets
Radiant looks for target acquisitions where they share the same values as the IFA they acquire and aims to retain all staff following the acquisition.

Will Palmer, director of Ethos, said: “It has been a long search to find a company to be part of what we really feel comfortable with. We are confident that joining Radiant will offer our fabulous staff both security and career development. Our clients, whom we value highly, will get continued stability and genuine Independent Financial Advice and service they can trust.”

The latest deals take Radiant’s staff numbers to 150 and assets under advice to £1.6 billion.