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UK Wealth Advisor Expands With IFA Acquisition
Knud Noelle
26 October 2009
Towry Law, the UK private client and corporate wealth
advisor, has bought Edward Jones Limited, the UK-based independent financial
advice and investment firm, a subsidiary of the US-based firm Edward D Jones
& Co. This acquisition
is a transformational step in Towry Law’s strategy to become the major
independent "fee based" wealth advisory firm in the UK, the firm said
in a statement. The
acquisition is subject to approval by the Financial Services Authority, the UK
regulator. If approved, Edward Jones Limited will be integrated into Towry
Law. “The acquisition
provides the opportunity for the combined business to become the major force in
independent wealth advice in the UK and be well placed to continue to lead the
industry in the adoption of the new rules following the Retail Distribution
Review, with fully qualified advisors offering fee based independent advice,”
said Andrew Fisher, chief executive of Towry Law. The RDR is a programme that has been launched by the
regulator in the UK to raise the standard of financial advisors' services, such
as aiming to raise qualification standards in the sector by 2012. Edward Jones' associates include
400 financial advisors; the firm serves some 50,000 clients and has £1.5
billion of client assets under advice. Towry Law manages over £2.8 billion of assets on
behalf of over 13,000 clients. It employs around 500 people in 10 offices
across the United Kingdom.