Self-invested personal pension (Sipp) provider Curtis Banks is launching its own property and legal services arm in a bid to boost profits.
Curtis Banks will start offering property management and legal services next year, it said, as it builds up experience in the area.
Rupert Curtis, group chief executive of Curtis Banks, told FTAdviser that the company sees an “opportunity to increase the customer experience by bringing these services in-house”.
For the property management, the provider has hired Paul Anderson as head of property services development. He was previously a managing director at Capita Real Estate and Infrastructure.
On the legal services, Curtis Banks has formed a company in this area, and is now going to apply for authorisation from the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
Mr Curtis said: “It is a logical step for us to take.”
Steve Carlson, chartered financial planner at Cardiff-based Carlson Wealth Management, said: "A ‘one stop shop’ providing a more seamless service could be attractive for both advisers and clients, providing both the price point and quality of advice are good."
At the same time, the company is simplifying its structure, by reducing the number of offices.
According to Will Self, deputy CEO of Curtis Banks, the provider looked at the unit costs of each of the locations, combined with the company’s growth ambitions over the next two or three years, to identify “which offices will have the capacity to deal with that with the right level of unit costs”.
In January, Curtis Banks closed its Chilmark office, which the firm had inherited when it acquired a book of 5,000 SIPPs from European Pensions Management in 2016.
From its 30 workers, Curtis Banks was able to relocate 15, Mr Self said.
The Market Harborough office, with 50 employees, is currently under consultation.
This will be a similar process to Chilmark, Mr Self said.
“We will offer redeployment opportunities, and the expectation is that we will reduce head count again,” he added.
According to its mid-year report, Curtis Banks staff numbers fallen from 591 as at 31 December 2016 to 568 as at 30 June 2017.
In its latest results the company reported pre-tax profits growing 85 per cent to £5m, as the provider continued to benefit from buying Suffolk Life.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
