Parmenion buys £1.9bn Midlands DFM 

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Parmenion buys £1.9bn Midlands DFM 
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Parmenion has bought Midlands-based discretionary fund manager EBI Portfolios for an undisclosed sum.

The deal marks the firm’s first acquisition since it was sold by Abrdn to private equity in March 2021 for £102mn.

EBI administers £1.9bn of assets across 19 different platforms. These assets belong to some 150 advice firms and 7,000 underlying customers.

In an announcement today (September 7), Parmenion said its chief commercial officer Mike Morrow will join EBI’s board as part of the deal.

Under Parmenion’s ownership, EBI will continue to operate from its Aldridge offices under its own brand and offer the same investment service.

Parmenion has focused on broadening its investment services over the last year. In February, it launched a partnership programme to allow advisers to use its DFM services.

In May, the platform confirmed its first two external partners to come onboard in the platform’s 15-year history - Tatton Investment Management and LGT - after announcing in November 2021 that it would host other companies’ DFM services.

At the end of last year, the platform’s assets under management sat at £9.6bn, having risen 17 per cent.

That year, Parmenion also made a profit of £4.6mn following three years of losses under Abrdn. 

At the time, Jennings said the change of ownership had sparked a “change of pace” and a company-wide focus on customers once again.

Today, Jennings added: “Since securing independence from SLA [Standard Life Aberdeen, now Abrdn], we’ve been forging ahead with our ambition to become the adviser firm’s CIP [centralised investment proposition] provider of choice.

“Welcoming EBI into the Parmenion group will bring significant opportunities for growth on both sides. We look forward to supporting [EBI’s founder] Craig and his team as they go from strength to strength.”

ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com