Nigel Speirs, founder of Buckles and until recently managing director of Quilter Private Client Advisers, loves the advice business so much he has taken to ringing up clients who make a complaint.
"If ever there was a complaint from the client, I would phone as MD and say: 'I'm sorry you felt the need to complain but we'll sort it out'."
Unfortunately, his bosses at Quilter said he had to back off. "I was told, 'You can't keep doing that', because the clients withdraw their complaint when the MD phones up to apologise.
"It would be seen I was unduly influencing the client to withdraw their complaint."
Speirs says he gets "a great deal of joy" out of dealing directly with clients and bringing them the best advice, but confesses to preferring life in smaller, early-stage businesses to bigger corporates.
"I spent nearly 30 years building businesses and spent six years in corporate – that probably tells you [where I feel most comfortable]. It's where you can serve the client the best."
Speirs has just started another business, with the former regional and strategy and acquisitions director at Quilter Private Client Advisers, Dominic Rose is buying a company with the backing of private equity - MKC Wealth, which he intends to build organically – and has the intention of buying other businesses.
However, unlike many businesses backed by private equity, the pair are intentionally focusing on small firms.
He says: "Most of the people whose business we acquire will be exiting the industry, and they're retiring." He says this is a far more bankable way to go than the big £1bn asset-based businesses the private equity companies are largely pursuing.
"I think that's very dangerous; you're coming in, you've got to replace the existing manager and you have a high number of advisers.
"In the advice world, the value is often going to one or two owners, but the relationship is held by a number of advisers. Unless you really have won the hearts and souls of these advisers, it's quite a process to make sure they stay.
"You take a much bigger risk with buying a £1bn business; it's a good five or six advisers with £200m of assets under management each – you only need to to lose a couple of these and you destroy a lot of value."
Speirs met Rose at Quilter, and together they built Quilter Private Client Advisers, through acquisitions. Rose has spent much of his career in financial advice acquisitions, working for both Bellpenny and Towergate.
It was through Rose's work at Bellpenny, and that company's backer Oaktree Capital Management, that the pair came across Cabot Square Capital, a UK-based private equity business.
"They understood us, so when most of the people in finance wanted to buy a business with a minimum of £1bn of assets we explained why we wanted to start small and grow.
"Already they've been very supportive."
The process for getting the new business off the ground is through buying a "small and perfectly formed" adviser business based in the City of London – MKC Wealth.
This company has seven advisers, with clients who have investable wealth on average of £400,000. Other businesses that come on board will be absorbed into the MKC brand, such as Lighthouse Carrwood, the acquisition of which was announced earlier this week.
The owner of MKC wealth, Barry Cunningham, will stay as director of client services while Rose becomes chief executive and Speirs executive chairman.
How does Speirs feel about new advisers coming in and adapting to their way of doing things?
He says: "Over the years, advisers have developed religions, they have strong beliefs based on the things they've learnt.
"Some advisers will completely believe in cash flow funding – that if you haven't got a cash plan then you can't be giving proper advice.
"Other advisers will think that's not true, and it's about talking to the client and understanding."
He adds: "Some advisers will want to pick funds still and others will want centralised investment propositions; some advisers will want to do the exact opposite of what they're being told – it's an independence play. Other people will want to be part of a team.
"Our industry has been made up of lots of individuals working on their own businesses."
Mostly, MKC, which will remain the brand of the whole company, will recruit and train new people coming in, to look after the clients left by the retiring advisers selling their business. However, advisers with the right "cultural fit" may come on board from acquired companies.
Speirs says: "What we always agree on is the relationship with the client is paramount; the adviser and client have a great intimacy – it's about how you execute that."
Melanie Tringham is features editor of FTAdviser
