The joint managing director of Hargreave Hale has said he doesn’t see much growth coming from expanding his company’s advice offering.
Stuart Brookes said the company, which currently has £5.8bn in funds under management, is aiming to reach £7bn soon.
“We are trying to build the infrastructure behind that to facilitate the growth, we are looking to grow organically rather than by acquisition,” he stated.
“Advice is one of those areas where we offer the service, but it is not an area we see much growth in to be honest, we see most growth in funds under management.
“The milestone we set ourselves was £5bn, which we went through and we expect to go through £6bn fairly quickly - the next milestone we want to set ourselves is £7bn.”
Hargreave Hale has also relocated its Blackpool headquarters to accommodate the growth of its front and back office divisions.
The new 20,000 square feet, purpose built office is more than double the size of its previous base, with the capacity for more than 250 staff.
Mr Brookes said the office is currently only used by around 120 staff. “In the last two years we have gone from 91 staff there to 122. What we want to do is to future proof the business for the next five or 10 years.”
He added the firm is investing heavily in digital communication with clients. “We think it is important to provide face-to-face meetings but we appreciate some people want the digital communication.
“Robo-advice is not for us,” noted Mr Brookes, concluding: “We are basically portfolio managers.”
