Adviser network Tavistock has promised a return profit when it releases its full year results, reversing a £1.6m loss following its takeover of troubled rival Financial Ltd.
In a trading update published today (10 May), the company stated “each of the group’s operating businesses is now trading profitably”.
The trading update refers to Tavistock Partners and Tavistock Financial, which provide compliance, administration and accounting services to the network’s independent financial advisers, and Tavistock Wealth, which manages its investment proposition of in-house and external funds.
Tavistock reported a £1.6m loss for the six months to 30 September 2015, falling further into the red after a £172,000 full year loss in 2014.
The company blamed the slide on one-off ‘restructuring’ costs resulting from its £2.7m acquisition of Standard Financial - parent of network Financial Ltd - last February.
Financial Ltd, which is in liquidation, would not be included among the Tavistock’s profitable ongoing concerns.
Last month, FTAdviser revealed Tavistock is pursuing former appointed representatives of Financial Ltd for potentially millions of pounds in costs linked to ‘unsuitable’ advice green-lit by the collapsed network’s compliance team.
Earlier in April, Tavistock chief executive Brian Raven explained how his firm brokered a deal with the Financial Conduct Authority to rescue the failing advice network without taking on its liabilities.
A past business review into pension switching advice problems at Financial Ltd was ordered by the FCA in 2012.
Elsewhere in today’s trading update, Tavistock stated it now operates an integrated, national business offering both financial advisory and investment management services, with 328 advisers and more than 70,000 clients around the UK.
Assets under influence are estimated to be £4bn and assets under management, on either a discretionary or advisory basis, exceed £430m. The statement added approximately 75 per cent of the group’s net revenues are from recurring income.
Mr Raven said: “We have made remarkable progress in the two short years since completing our initial transactions, and this would not have been possible without our exceptional management and staff.
“With more than £9m of net assets, including cash resources of over £3m, we are well positioned to capitalise on the opportunities available to us. We look forward to the continuation of our rapid progress in the year ahead.”
laura.miller@ft.com
