Wren Sterling Group has added £250mn assets under management after it acquired a majority stake in Stockdale & Co and Stockdale Asset Management.
The Stockdale Group is comprised of financial advice firm Stockdale & Co and Stockdale Asset Management - a DFM business that has been running for over twenty years.
The group has around 700 clients and all 12 members of staff have joined the Wren Sterling Group.
The Bodmin-based firm becomes Wren Sterling’s ‘hub’ office in the south west.
The firm said it has welcomed around 1,000 clients in the past couple of months after completing transactions for The Stockdale Group and Messer & Matthews Ltd, adding over £400mn of AUM to its books in the process.
James Twining, chief executive of Wren Sterling, said: “The South-West has always been a bit of a gap for Wren Sterling, despite this being a region with increasing wealth, fuelled by the trend to move out of London post-pandemic.
“The timing is perfect for us and allows us to increase our footprint in the same way we have done with the north west and Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.”
Twining said Keith Stockdale and his team have the “entrepreneurial drive” the firm is looking for and a very loyal client bank.
“It’s a great foundation to build on and Keith will be central to developing our brand in the Devon and Cornwall area, particularly as he is retaining a stake in the business,” he said.
This comes as earlier this year in May, Wren Sterling added £400mn with the purchase of three firms, marking its expansion into Northern Ireland.
Ralston Bennett Financial Planning and its appointed representative business, Aspects Financial, both based in County Down, combined to create Wren Sterling’s first permanent base in Northern Ireland.
In July, Wren Sterling also completed a deal to acquire Messer & Matthews Ltd, a Guildford-based IFA headed by Charles Matthews, a chartered financial planner looking after around £150mn AUM for 300 clients.
Wren Sterling will retain the Guildford office for the foreseeable future and the team will work closely with Wren Sterling’s Oxford office, headed by Regional Director, Jason McGuigan.
Twining added: “Messer & Matthews is a fantastic IFA business. Charles is a highly qualified adviser who has provided exemplary service to clients over the years, and I’m excited to have him in Wren Sterling to drive up standards through his example.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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