IFG reveals plans for James Hay following takeover
The IPS Partnership brand is set to be dropped as parent company IFG looks to make best use of the James Hay brand, which it offered to pay £35m for yesterday (9 December).
Tim Sargisson, managing director of IPS Partnership and IFG Financial Services - subsidiaries of the IFG Group, which has bought James Hay from Santander - said the acquisition of the self-invested personal pension provider would help take the business to the "next level".
Mr Sargisson said: "The IPS name will fall away. The James Hay name is a certain amount of clout.
"It is the first name you think of [for Sipps]. Most people will have heard of James Hay. It is an opportunity for us to leverage off the brand name."
The IPS Partnership head said, however, that there were some issues that the company would need to address with James Hay, particularly on client service.
He said: "The priority for us is to streamline some of the process. It is fair to say that they have had a few problems on the administration side."
The acquisition of James Hay from Santander was announced yesterday (9 December). The deal is worth more than £35m and the acquisition will be funded by a €50m (£45m) share issue on the Dublin Stock Exchange.
Mr Sargisson said the deal had been agreed after a period of negotiations that lasted between three and four months.
He said: "We have been in discussions with Abbey to get a deal together. I think that Abbey were looking to get rid of James Hay before the year ended.
"Their rationale for selling was that it is not core to the business going forward.
"It is very exciting for us to be able to take on the largest Sipp provider in the UK."
IPS Partnership was merged with PAL Partnership in September 2008. The latter had been created through a merger of Pensions Associates - where Mr Sargisson was chief executive - and Santhouse Whittington Actuarial Services.
