Fairstone buys up Cheshire firm

Fairstone has said the acquisition of Hammond McNulty Wealth Management is the first in a series of "major acquisitions" which will take place during 2018.

The deal adds funds under management of around £50m and Hammond McNulty hopes to grow this figure to £100m in the next five years. Meanwhile five staff will also join the company as part of the deal.

Lee Hartley, chief executive of Fairstone Group, said: "This marks another significant step in our growth strategy and we are thrilled to have started the year so strongly.

"Our model ensures businesses are fully integrated before the point of sale, securing a positive impact from the start for quality firms like Hammond McNulty. Our research shows that partner firms which have undergone our downstream buy-out integration process enjoy on average 15 per cent organic growth per year.

"Mark has built a team that is completely dedicated to providing the highest levels of service and impartial advice to clients and we are certain the business will continue to do so. We look forward to working with them and helping them to grow as part of Fairstone Financial Management."

In Fairstone's downstream buy-out model, the company initially takes a minority stake in an advice firm before integrating it into its business and then buying the whole thing.

In the past 12 months, Fairstone has acquired eight fully-integrated firms through the DBO process and anticipates a further nine acquisitions over the course of 2018.

Mark Pedley, principal at Hammond McNulty, said: "With Mifid II and GDPR coming into force, we feel confident in Fairstone’s solid structure and the resources which have been made available to meet the challenges of the changing face of the financial services sector.

"We want to make sure that our clients can continue to enjoy the high level of personalised service they have come to expect and in Fairstone we have found a forward-looking partner which we can rely on."

damian.fantato@ft.com