Fairstone to acquire 2 more advice firms

Chartered Financial Planner Fairstone is to acquire two more financial advice firms – making a total of four deals announced in the past month.

The latest deals add more than 720 clients and 16 advisers and support staff plus gross fee income of over £1.5m and Funds Under Management of £200m.

The new acquisitions are Brantwood Financial Planning and Advanced Financial Services. 

In April Fairstone acquired Goodman Chartered Financial Planners in Kent and East Devon Associates.

Fairstone is using its progress takeover model, the Downstream Buy-Out for the deals which see gradual integration of an IFA firm over a two year period followed by full acquisition.

Brantwood Financial Planning is based in Huddersfield and specialises in tax planning, IHT and retirement planning. It has two advisers, two support staff and 140 clients. The firm adds fee income of £650,000 and nearly £140m in Fund Under Management.

Advanced Financial Services is based in Durham and specialises in pensions and investments, with four advisers, eight support staff and 583 clients. The firm, which has two offices, adds fee income of £900,000 and more than £60m in FUM.

Fairstone CEO Lee Hartley said: “It is wonderful to bring another two quality businesses into our Downstream Buy Out programme. Both Brantwood and Advanced share Fairstone’s client-centric ethos and their focus on quality and first-class service is exactly what we are looking for in a business.”

Paul Dickinson, principal at Brantwood, said: “Like us, Fairstone hold corporate Chartered status and we were attracted to their genuine independence and the fact that we would not be shoe-horned into centralised investment strategies or higher charging structures for clients.”

Martin Bage, principal at Advanced added: “As a small firm of advisers, we were looking for the support and strength from a national firm for our clients, whilst still retaining the personal relationship we have with them.  This gives our clients and ourselves the security we need in this ever-challenging world.”