Perspective seals 12th deal with Staffordshire-based IFA

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Perspective seals 12th deal with Staffordshire-based IFA
Ian Wilkinson, chief executive officer of Perspective

The acquisition, which marks its twelfth this year, will see it add 390 households as clients.

Hunter & Co’s roots go back to the mid 1990s and the firm is based in Burntwood, Staffordshire.

The firm advises clients throughout Shropshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands and Warwickshire. 

The two directors, Scott Flemings and Steve Bennett, will continue to head up the office in Burntwood which will now be known as Perspective (Staffordshire), while also retaining all their existing staff.

Flemings and Bennett said it very important that any new partner shared their vision for strengthening its office including keeping the current staff and location. 

“We are pleased to now become part of Perspective,” they said. 

“Our firm has a particularly loyal client base with many relationships going back over 30 years. With Perspective’s help and resources, we are excited to embark on the next stage of growth and development for the office.

“We looked at several potential partners. Right from the first contact with Perspective, we felt they were genuinely client centric and had a similar view on value for money and fees.”

In addition, Perspective has exchanged on four further acquisitions all awaiting Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval.

Ian Wilkinson, chief executive officer of Perspective, said: “We are delighted that Scott Flemings and Steve Bennett chose to become part of us and welcome their team to the group.”

Perspective has had a total of 12 acquisitions, one every month, which Wilkinson described as “outstanding”.

In total, it has added seven new offices, nearly 3,000 households as clients and over £800mn AUM.

“We have very strong momentum with four further acquisitions planned to complete in early 2023, once FCA approval is received,” he said.

“This is on top of our biggest ever pipeline of acquisitions, both large and small. We relish the opportunity to grow further at scale and pace.”

The advice firm consolidator’s other 11 deals this year have included East Sussex-based Informed Financial Advice, which added £100mn in assets, Essex-based Goldwyns Wealth Management, which added £70mn, three firms in the North spanning offices in Newcastle upon Tyne, Darlington and Dinnington, and Cambridgeshire-based adviser Ramsey Financial which added £50mn in assets

In March, Perspective bought four firms in one go, ranging in size from £10mn to £175mn in assets. At the time, these purchases took Perpective’s acquisition total over 50.

Wilkinson added: “Perspective has been built around a culture of putting our clients at the centre of our decision-making process to ensure that we always deliver good client outcomes, as far back as our beginning in 2007.

“We always put ourselves in our clients’ shoes first and foremost, so our vision and core values are perfectly aligned to the incoming consumer duty, as though the new principle was written to match our entire ethos.”

sonia.rach@ft.com 

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