Ascot Lloyd is expected to complete a further eight acquisitions before the end of the year as it moves to capitalise on increasing consolidation among smaller advice firms.
In its annual results published today (October 7) chief executive Nigel Stockton said the IFA had agreed terms on eight deals which would add 20 advisers, £15m of revenue and £1.2bn of funds under management to the business before the start of next year.
The announcement comes a month after Ascot Lloyd acquired two financial planning firms, Prest Financial Planning and QS Financial, in deals which added £415m in assets under management to the firm.
Mr Stockton said: "The outlook for our business has never been so positive, currently of the approximately £600bn of IFA funds across the UK, nearly two thirds are advised by small, standalone IFAs.
"The challenges facing these smaller firms is well known and we believe that this will continue to drive an acceleration of consolidation as smaller businesses look to find homes that can better support them and their clients.
"This presents a significant opportunity to Ascot Lloyd, enabling us to leverage our proven track record in integrating businesses, our purpose-built platform and, our commitment to giving advisers the support they need to acquire high quality IFAs."
Mr Stockton said Ascot Lloyd would look to capitalise on this "excellent environment and market opportunity".
In its results the company announced a 23 per cent increase in revenues to £41.4m for the year ended December 2018, up from £31.5m in 2017, and a 34 per cent jump in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to £7.8m, up from £5.8m in 2017.
The advice business now has more than £7.5bn in funds under influence, 100 personal advisers and in excess of 12,500 clients.
Mr Stockton said: "In many ways 2018 was a transformational year for Ascot Lloyd as we solidified our operations under a single brand, further invested in our platform and continued to execute on our acquisition strategy.
"[The] strong top and bottom-line growth is a powerful demonstration of our strategic progress, the commitment and dedication of our people and the long-term health of our business."
rachel.mortimer@ft.com
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