Discretionary fund management firm Waverton has said it is keen to "augment" its advice offering as it seeks to acquire firms to grow its geographical footprint.
Waverton operates 10 of its own funds, including global and European equity mandates, but it also has a private client and charities investment management business.
Nick Tucker, Waverton's chief executive, said advice was something companies "have got to be able to offer".
He said: "There is a huge demand for advice and investment management combined, particularly if you look at the higher end.
"That's definitely something we are looking to augment. Our core competence is investment management."
Asked whether Waverton would be looking to grow through acquisition, Tucker said: "We will make very selective acquisitions where we are adding additional ancillary services for our clients.
"The purpose of acquisition for us is not for scale and size, it is to augment our offering.
"We are a very London-centric business so we will be looking to get more spread geographically across the UK because newer wealth is spread quite evenly across the country."
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Waverton launching its model portfolio service and Tucker said the company was keen to make advisers more aware of it.
Last year the company hired Andrew Denham-Davis, formerly of Brooks Macdonald, as business development director to help expand Waverton's reach among advisers.
Tucker said: "Waverton is a relatively unknown name so you change that by having people with you like Andrew who really know the adviser community."
Asked why Waverton had waited 10 years before really pushing its MPS, Tucker said: "We have always said when the markets are going up we will track the markets up but when we will really add value is when there is a market correction and last year was the proof of concept.
"Fundamentally we are a serious investment management house and didn't want to trumpet something that was unproven and last year was the proof of concept.
"Our business has been growing very nicely over the past three or four years but it has grown exponentially in the past six months.
"We are becoming more and more differentiated because of the move to passive or to funds of funds. Our differentiation is being able to do active management in a risk adjusted way."
Tucker joined Waverton last year after nine years as head of UBS’s wealth management business in the UK.
damian.fantato@ft.com
