Hampshire-based Prosperity IFA is treading on the acquisition trail, claiming to be in advanced talks with 10 firms and looking to quadruple its assets under management by the end of the year.
In an interview with FTAdviser to be published tomorrow, (14 February), Justin Randall, head of operations for Prosperity, revealed the firm has just acquired Southampton-based adviser Avalon Financial Associates.
Mr Randall said Glen Belcher of Avalon is the fourteenth of 15 advisers to join Prosperity, most of whom have joined in the last 12 months.
Mr Randall added that Prosperity is in advanced talks with 10 other firms and hopes through acquisition to add £200m to its assets under management by the end of 2014 by various ways including acquisition, growth and mergers.
The firm currently holds approximately £50m AUM.
He said: “We are looking to work with a fairly select group of advisers capable of working within a stricter and stricter [regulatory] environment.”
Mr Randall said the best way for a small advice firm to draw the attention of a would-be buyer is to have all your ducks in a very tidy line.
He said: “We turn lots of people down. We still come across IFAs that do research from scratch or what isn’t real whole-of-market research. It’s very difficult to ascertain where all their assets under management are or where their trail is coming from, so it’s hard for us to make a judgement if it’s a worthwhile business to work with.”
Prosperity was set up in 2010 by former Edward Jones’ advisers Mark Newman and Jasper de Zoeten.
Last month FTAdviser sister title Financial Adviser reported that Prosperity had struck a deal with Brooks Macdonald Asset Management to provide discretionary fund management for the firm’s clients.
The firm previously claimed it was offering a model which was a combination of elements from network and corporate models.
Firms which join Prosperity will be able to keep all their clients and branding, but will use all the same technology and systems, Mr Randall added.
In the year following the Retail Distribution Review, several firms emerged as acquisitive “IFA aggregators”, including AFH, Bradbury Hamilton and Succession.
The full interview with both Mr Belcher and Mr Randall will be published tomorrow (14 February).
