The deal is part of a consolidation process taking place in the UK wealth management and banking sector.

NatWest Group has completed its £2.7 billion ($3.56 billion) acquisition of Evelyn Partners, initially announced in early February.

The combined entity brings together Evelyn Partners' £69 billion of assets under management and administration (AUMA), as measured at the end of 2025, with NatWest Group's £59 billion, as at the same date. Had the deal completed then, total AUMA would have stood at £127 billion, with combined customer assets and liabilities reaching £188 billion – roughly 20 per cent of the wider group's CAL. (See a detailed analysis by WealthBriefing of the NatWest/Evelyn transaction.)

NatWest said the transaction will increase fee income by about 20 per cent before revenue synergies are accounted for, giving the bank greater exposure to what it characterises as a structurally higher-growth UK wealth market.

NatWest's shares have risen 3.35 per cent since the start of the year, according to LSE data, as of the 1 July London Stock Exchange close. The purchase price in February was a multiple of 15 times earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), according to analysts who told WealthBriefing at the time. When the deal was first disclosed on 9 February, shares fell.

Paul Thwaite, chief executive of NatWest Group, said the completion marked an important step in accelerating the group's strategy "at a time when the benefits of saving and investing are increasingly part of the national conversation." He described the deal as delivering "unmatched scale and capabilities," saying that Evelyn Partners brings "long-standing, trusted client relationships and industry-leading expertise in financial planning and investment management." Thwaite added that the enlarged group would now offer a broader range of products, services and advice to more than 20 million customers.

Chris Kenny, who was appointed to the role on 1 June, will become chief executive of Evelyn Partners with effect from completion. He will report to Emma Crystal, CEO of private banking and wealth management at NatWest Group. Kenny said the milestone will strengthen the firm's ability to support clients over the long term "while preserving the personal relationships, trusted advice and investment expertise" that clients value.

Synergies and capital impact
NatWest Group is targeting annual run-rate cost synergies of about £100 million, against costs to achieve of around £150 million. It also expects significant revenue synergies from combining Evelyn Partners' financial planning and investment management capabilities – including the Bestinvest platform – with its own banking, savings and wealth management services. The London-listed bank expects the deal to be accretive to growth and return on tangible equity from the first year of ownership.

On the capital side, the transaction is expected to reduce NatWest Group's Common Equity Tier 1 ratio by around 130 basis points, based on the anticipated capital position at 31 December 2026 and pro forma for risk-weighted assets from 1 January 2027. NatWest said it will give more information on full-year 2026 guidance at the group's interim results on 31 July.

A consolidating market
The deal is an example of the significant consolidation that has taken place in the UK wealth management sector in recent years. Evelyn Partners' arrival at this point has seen it grow by its own inorganic as well as organic routes. Funds advised by Permira originally invested in Bestinvest in 2014 and through a small number of combinations, most notably Tilney, Towry and Smith & Williamson, created and integrated the combined group into Evelyn Partners. Warburg Pincus became a minority investor in the company upon the acquisition of Smith & Williamson in 2020.

At the start of 2026, US-based Nuveen also announced that it was buying Schroders, the UK-listed wealth and investment firm, adding to a busy early period of mergers and acquisitions.