October has been a month of announcements. KW Wealth formerly European Wealth, started the month off with the acquisition of East Yorkshire based IFA, Marchant McKechnie. The deal will bring an additional £1.4m of revenue to KW Wealth as part of their plan to grow their national presence.
Newell Palmer has made its 51st acquisition since the firm was formed in 1993. Sense Wealth Management, an advice business located in Stourbridge adds another £35 million to Newell Palmer's assets under management, lifting the total to £2.3 billion.
Embattled firm Greyfriars Asset Management (GAM) applied for insolvency protection, with Smith & Williamson appointed to jointly administrate its assets.
Over the last year, Greyfriars, has had a number of troubles has been shedding its different business units. The company's discretionary division closed in March, with £60 million of client assets moving to 7IM and LGT Vestra. The administrators' announcement also revealed that the company's Sipp and Ssas administration businesses were sold this October to Hartley Pensions. Its advisory arm was previously transferred to Insight Financial Associates on 16 October.
Courtiers Investment Management has partnered with fintech firm InvestCloud to launch a digital service. Courtiers has set up the new platform to improve its online client communication and reporting capabilities. Aiming to transition into an ‘all-digital proposition’, the firm has already moved a third of its client base to the new digital service.
In other robot advice news, Santander has launched a robo adviser targeting first-time investors. The bank’s new Digital Investment Adviser has a minimum investment of £20 a month and a maximum yearly platform service fee of 0.35%, with charges made every six months depending on investment balance.
Lloyds will move its £13 billion wealth business into a joint venture with Schroders as part of a triple-pronged tie-up between the two companies.
The arrangement would also see Schroders take on the coveted £109 billion Lloyds investment management mandate, which is set to be taken from the current holders Aberdeen Asset Management, following its merger with Standard Life.
It was reported that Schroders was set to hand a stake in its wealth arm Cazenove Capital to Lloyds, led by CEO António Horta Osório, as part of the deal to secure the investment mandate. This is still on the table, with the bank to be given a 19.9% stake in Cazenove.
The new joint venture wealth firm will be separate from Cazenove, according to reports.
The combined value of the deal is understood to be around £500 million, with Cazenove and the £13 billion new entity valued at roughly £250 million a piece.
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