Wealth manager Saltus Group has bought Higgins Fairbairn Advisory LLP, an independent chartered financial planner based in London, in a deal that is the group’s third acquisition in a year.
Saltus has said that Higgins Fairbairn was “carefully chosen due to its well established and respected London presence” to enhance Saltus’ offering in the capital and support its longer-term strategy to acquire established owner-managed firms.
In September 2021 the firm bought Fish Financial and in March 2022 it bought NSL Wealth.
The Higgins Fairbairn deal will bring staff numbers at Saltus to more than 120 and assets under management to £2.3bn.
The deal will see all Higgins Fairbairn staff move across to Saltus with Gianpaolo Mantini, the firm’s head, becoming a partner.
Speaking about the acquisition, Gianpaolo said the move will offer Higgins Fairbairn clients the technological advancements that being part of a larger firm can bring.
“From our early discussions with Saltus, it was clear that a merger with them would provide a great fit for our business and our clients.
“We have always embraced technological change, however, to get more out of technology and to deliver a 'state of the art' financial advice proposition to our clients we needed greater flexibility and responsiveness. So we are delighted to have become part of the Saltus Group,” he said.
Jon Macintosh, Saltus managing partner, said Gianpaolo and the Higgins Fairbairn team were “a great fit for Saltus”.
He added: “Not only do they share our goal-based approach to financial planning - placing the client at the heart of everything they do – but their well-established presence will really complement our financial planning services offering, enabling us to reach far more clients across the UK.”
Saltus has said that all Higgins Fairbairn staff will be based across Saltus’ four offices in London, Solent, Bournemouth and Farnham.
Saltus began as an investment management firm in 2004, with Saltus Financial Planning launched in 2015.
jane.matthews@ft.com
