Tenet is planning to make a small number of redundancies as a result of the closure of its wealth network.
In an announcement this week (August 21), Tenet said it will close its network, with its appointed representatives moving to The Openwork Partnership as part of an exclusive agreement.
The agreement will provide Tenet's firms and advisers the choice of retaining their independent status through Openwork's IFA business 2plan Wealth Management or becoming part of the restricted Openwork proposition.
Meanwhile LSL Property Services, owner of the Primis mortgage network, has bought TenetLime, Tenet's mortgage network.
While the business anticipates there will be a small number of redundancies, it is looking minimise this and will be communicating with its staff.
FTAdviser understands affected colleagues will be fully supported and contractual obligations will be met.
The decision for the closure of the network came following a strategic review, which Tenet said was a result of significant changes in the industry.
This includes external forces such as consolidation, increased regulation, digitisation, new technology expense and the broader inflationary environment.
This situation led Tenet’s board to appoint an external adviser to explore options for the group, for the benefit of all stakeholders.
The strategic review concluded that a transformation of the group was necessary to secure the required scale and diverse revenue streams to remain viable.
A significant number of jobs have been secured as part of the review and no one is leaving the business as a result of redundancy before December 2023.
Meanwhile, Tenet & You, Tenet Mortgage Solutions, Tenet Compliance Services and Tenet Financial Services advisory brands are all remaining with the group.
Tenet’s intention is to retain these business lines and continue to service existing clients.
Although smaller, it plans to have a more focused and agile business able to capitalise on future opportunities.
Tenet Mortgage Solutions has 19 employees and 17 advisers, while Tenet & You has 42 employees, Tenet Compliance Services has 17 employees and Tenet Financial Services has 10 employees.
The deal is structured to support a seamless onboarding to Openwork/2plan so that advisers can continue to service their customers with minimal disruption and continue to grow their business.
An Openwork spokesperson said: “Any firm that joins or is part of The Openwork Partnership (including 2plan) is able to participate in our unit allocation scheme.”
Elsewhere, Tenet shareholders - Aegon, Aviva and Abrdn - have brushed off the firm’s decision to close its wealth network.
Of the three firms, Aviva has the largest holding with Aviva Life Holdings having a 24.98 per cent stake in Tenet Group and Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited taking a 24.13 per cent stake.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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