Old Mutual Wealth Completes Intrinsic Acquisition; Adds To Executive Committee

Radhika Badiani

2 July 2014

, comprised of Skandia and Old Mutual Global Investors, has won regulatory clearance to acquire Intrinsic after a deal had been initially announced earlier this year.

At the same time, the firms announced that Richard Freeman, chief executive of UK financial advisor network Intrinsic, will join the Old Mutual Wealth executive committee. The second committee addition is Lord Sandy Leitch, non-executive chairman of Intrinsic, who will join as non-executive director.

The acquisition, the purchase price of which wasn’t disclosed, is part of a continuing round of M&A activity to have affected wealth management in the UK as new regulations and other pressures have driven firms to seek economies of scale.

“We believe wealth management needs to be more accessible to customers and having 3,000 financial advisors as part of our business will help us deliver that,” Paul Feeney, chief executive of Old Mutual Wealth said.

Old Mutual Wealth is part of Old Mutual, a London-listed firm which oversees £80.2 billion ($137.4 billion) in customer investments.

Describing the committee appointees, Old Mutual Wealth said that Lord Leitch has a range of global experience, including chairman of Scottish Widows, deputy chairman of Lloyds Banking Group. He was awarded a life peerage in 2004.

At the same time, three members of Old Mutual Wealth’s executive committee have been appointed to the Intrinsic board as directors. The team include Jeremy Charles, chief operating officer; Steven Levin, global head of distribution and Kevin Lee-Crossett, chief risk officer.

As announced earlier, Intrinsic’s business model will remain and will continue to support both independent and restricted advisors; Intrinsic will remain distinct within Old Mutual Wealth, with its own existing brand and management team. The existing Intrinsic teams will continue to run the business on a day-to-day basis, the statement said. Skandia’s protection products will be added to Intrinsic’s panel for its mortgage and protection advisors.

Intrinsic’s Cirilium asset management solution will continue to be part of its investment proposition. Cirilium is managed by Henderson, which is a strategic partner of Old Mutual Wealth.