The headlines this month have been busy, with big changes being felt all through the UK platform market as the implications of various PE deals continue to ripple through the industry.
The headlines
David Ferguson has left Nucleus, the platform he founded, following the PE-backed takeover by James Hay earlier this year. The combined group, though for now operating as separate platforms, will move to operating under the Nucleus brand. However, the potential for a future migration towards FNZ is still very much alive – something that will no doubt continue to play on the minds of advisors who have worked with Nucleus for years.
Similarly, PE-owned Novia Financial, bought in 2020 by AnaCap, has seen a stream of executive departures this month, presumably the result of various changes made to the Board earlier in 2021. The total number of senior departures from the platform is now more than 15. We will be watching with great interest to see how AnaCap goes about bringing Novia together with their other platform acquisitions from the last couple of years.
True Potential and Sanlam Wealth became the latest participants in the wave of corporate activity engulfing the UK market. The former selling a majority-stake to Cinven, the latter being a complete acquisition by Oaktree Capital Management. While the motivation for these deals differs, there’s clearly an appetite for change across the sector, be it through acquiring extra scale, or seeking capital to fuel organic growth. It does make you wonder how positive this will ultimately be for advisors and investors in the long run.
Elsewhere, AssetCo and M&G Wealth both appointed new executives. Clare Bousfield will take the reigns as MD of M&G Wealth, driving the firm’s expansion and strategy in the UK, and Campbell Fleming is the latest ex-Aberdeen executive to join Martin Gilbert at AssetCo as the firm’s CEO.
Also, look out in the next month for:
Our upcoming Wealth Paper, focusing on how the future landscape is shaping up for wealth managers.
And our piece in Investment Week by our Associate Partner Mary Wong, looking at how having a CEO who is truly involved, living and breathing the organisation’s values, can be the key to a company’s success.
Finally, in case you missed it…
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