Towry has seen a 15.4 per cent increase in assets under management to £6.4bn, backed by a 10.8 per cent increase in revenues to a record £91.3m.
The wealth manager‘s financial results for 2014 also showed earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation up 6 per cent to £24m, from £22.7m in 2013.
Rob Devey, chief executive at the firm, commented that revenues increased through a combination of organic and inorganic growth.
Around this time last year Towry finally agreed a deal for the assets of Baker Tilly’s private client financial advice and investment management business, bringing more than 4,500 private clients and over £1.5bn of client assets.
“Towry’s strong track record of acquiring and integrating businesses was further demonstrated with the purchase of Baker Tilly’s private client arm, which increased our client base and provided access to an exceptionally talented team.
“This momentum has continued into 2015 with our offer to acquire Ashcourt Rowan, a transaction which will create one of the largest companies in the wealth management sector.”
While the acquisition of Baker Tilly boosted revenue, administrative expenses for 2014 rose to £72m from £64m in 2013, along with “significant exceptional costs” of £10.9m due to the transactions, restructuring and regulatory costs.
The total number of employees also rose from 718 to 759 last year.
Ron Sandler, Towry’s chairman, stated in the report that the acquisition of Ashcourt Rowan is expected to complete during the second quarter this year.
“Towry has built a strong and scalable business model which is well-placed to take advantage of on-going consolidation and repositioning within the industry,” he commented, adding that the firm intends to introduce a suite of additional products and services, alongside new telephone and online advice capabilities, to take advantage of current market trends.
The second half of last year also saw a market increase in organic new asset inflows from new and existing clients, 40 per cent higher than in the first half and 54 per cent higher than in the second half of 2013.
Mr Devey added that Towry is now well-positioned to take advantage of a growing market where demand for professional, transparent and trusted advice is only set to increase.
“Our focus will remain on continuing to evolve our proposition to meet our clients’ needs whilst harnessing innovation to broaden the way in which we deliver our services.”
peter.walker@ft.com
