Rathbone Investment Management has bought Barclays Wealth’s Personal Injury and Court of Protection wealth management business, adding £500m of assets under management to the firm.
In an update published to the stock exchange today (November 28), Rathbones announced it had reached an agreement to acquire the PI and CoP arm — a move which would also bring about 600 clients alongside their deputies and trustees to Rathbones.
As Rathbones already has its own PI and CoP business, a ten-strong team from Barclays will join the existing specialist team once the deal is completed, expected in the second quarter of next year.
A PI and CoP business manages the money for those who have received compensation after suffering a serious injury — one that means they cannot make investment decisions for themselves.
The team also provides support for both professional and lay deputies or trustees — those who have been granted the power to make decisions for the injured client — with regards to the client’s wider financial matters.
Rathbones stated the acquisition would be funded from existing capital resources and that the move was “consistent” with one of its strategic priorities, “penetrating specialist markets”, outlined by the wealth manager last month (October 17).
At the time the firm’s chief executive Paul Stockton told FTAdviser he expected the wave of consolidation gripping the wealth management market to continue in the years ahead and for Rathbones to be part of it.
Rathbones had already been a participant in recent consolidations, negotiating to buy Smith and Williamson before that deal collapsed, and then acquiring the Scottish firm Speirs and Jeffrey.
Mr Stockton said: "The PI and CoP sector is an attractive specialist part of the UK wealth management market.
“The Barclays Wealth team are highly experienced and have a strong set of relationships in their sector. We're delighted that they are joining us to complement our existing specialist capability."
As at the end of September Rathbones had total funds under management and administration of £49.4bn.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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