Saltus expands financial planning arm with adviser purchase

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Saltus expands financial planning arm with adviser purchase

Fish Financial was established in 2007 by Ian Colley to provide financial planning and wealth management advice to high-net-worth individuals and business owners.

The firm has grown over the past five years and now manages £300m of client assets and employs 16 people.

As part of the deal, all Fish Financial staff will move over to Saltus, while managing director Ian Colley, director Mark Turnbull, and chairman Stephen McMillan will become partners in the Saltus Group.

Fish Financials’ Farnham offices will be retained, with all clients continuing to be served by their Fish adviser and team, supported by the wider Saltus team.

Saltus said this purchase was part of its strategy to identify established owner-managed firms that share its approach to wealth and investment management.

Jon Macintosh, managing partner at Saltus, said: “It was clear from the outset that this was a meeting of minds. We were introduced independently by two separate parties who recognised that we were a few years ahead on the journey Fish wished to embark upon from a technology and proposition perspective.

"During the process of getting to know Ian and the team, we have found the business to be one of the most professional and well organised advice businesses we have come across.

“Long-established firms like Fish have delivered for clients over many years, and often reach a point when they are looking to take their business to the next stage.

“I’m hugely excited about what the enhanced Saltus business can deliver in the coming years with Fish as a key part of that.”

Established as an investment management business in 2004 before launching Saltus Financial Planning in 2015, the Saltus Group employs more than 90 people and manages more than £2bn in assets.

Fish said the opportunity to become a part of the Saltus Group presented itself when it investigated how it could enhance its clients’ experience and service through investment in technology.

Colley said: “We were looking at two key ways we could enhance client experience - better platform technology and improved risk management capabilities - and we were introduced to Saltus, as they had gone down the same route a few years previously. 

“It quickly became clear that the core values of the two businesses were completely aligned and given that we retain a strong desire to continue to grow, it was obvious that an alliance of some sort would deliver us the outcomes we were looking for.”

The Fish Financial deal for Saltus follows the purchases of Lorica in 2020 and Consilia in March 2021.

McMillan added: “I cannot recall a better match of two businesses in terms of both culture and proposition. The business Ian and Mark have built over recent years is one of the best at what it does anywhere in the country and adding that into the wider Saltus offering is hugely exciting for everyone involved. 

“This next step will significantly enhance what we can deliver for our clients in the years ahead.”

sonia.rach@ft.com

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