The deal, scheduled to go through on 30 April, will see the two London-based investment managers blend their operations, research teams and resources, with the team at Thurleigh expected to move into Ingenious’s offices in Golden Square.
The combined business will manage £1.8bn in discretionary private client assets and through their platform-based model portfolios, though neither party would disclose the value of the merger.
Spokesmen for the two firms said Thurleigh would maintain its brand and its existing clients but new business would fall under the Ingenious banner.
They could not confirm a timeline for moving both operations under one roof.
Thurleigh and Ingenious were both established in 2003, specialising in investment management for charities, family offices and private investors.
Ingenious manages £1.5bn in client assets, primarily through its global multi-asset portfolios, and manages £120m on-platform. Thurleigh, the smaller party in the deal, manages £300m.
Ingenious Asset Management and Thurleigh Investment Managers are pleased to announce an agreement to merge their firms.
Guy Bowles, founder and chief executive of Ingenious, will become chief executive of the merged business while David Rosier will continue as chairman of Thurleigh.
Charles MacKinnon, co-founder and chief investment officer at Thurleigh, will become part of the merged firm’s portfolio steering group and is tasked with setting the investment strategy across the whole firm.
Adviser view
Matt Smith, chartered financial planner at London-based Buckingham Gate Chartered Financial Planners, said: “There are lots of common factors behind mergers in the advisory world and the investment management space, such as regulatory costs. Smaller investment managers could be seeing downward pressure on margins, reaching a certain level where the operation is no longer viable on its own.”
