A new entrant this year, Quilter Cheviot – then owned by Bridgepoint Development Capital – leapt directly into the top 10. However, just at the time when this survey was in the process of being created, Old Mutual Wealth came along to buy the company and Bridgepoint exited with £585m.
Having already acquired Intrinsic/Positive Solutions for individual advice, and having internal asset management through Old Mutual Global Investors, OMW decided to complete the suite with a high-end discretionary investment management service.
Currently, OMW customers hold between £50,000 and £250,000 through its platform, so the fact that the current average investment through Quilter Cheviot’s service is £500,000 must have appealed. It also means OMW can participate in the growing post-RDR trend of advisers outsourcing investment.
The past year saw Quilter Cheviot’s managed portfolio service break the £1bn barrier in June, which represented asset growth of 7.8 per cent over the year. As at September 2014 the business had £16bn of funds under management and 165 investment managers.
Speaking at the time of the acquisition, Quilter Cheviot chief executive Martin Baines said: “The long-term parentage and financial security that the acquisition provides will allow us to continue to do what we do best – manage clients’ money on a bespoke discretionary basis, providing high levels of service to both clients and intermediaries without compromise.”
