Scottish wealth manager bought by London firm amid shake-up in sector
A SCOTTISH wealth manager has been acquired by a London-based investment business amid a shake-up in the sector.
Cornerstone Asset Management, which has offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, has been bought by Waverton Investment Management for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will allow Waverton to increase its presence in the financial planning market and provide additional distribution capacity for its asset management products. Cornerstone has about 1,000 clients and advises them on £500 million funds. It employs more than 20 people.
By becoming part of a bigger group, Cornerstone will be able to broaden its service offering.
Cornerstone was founded in 2010 by a team led by Alan Reid, who spent 15 years at Lloyds TSB.
The business capitalised on the boom in demand for advice that followed the Retail Distribution Review.
This barred firms that provide investment products from paying commissions to advisers from the end of 2013, and ushered in fee-based advice.
Pensions freedoms introduced in 2015 have also helped fuel demand for the services of advisers.
Waverton has provided asset management services for Cornerstone since 2012.
It had £6.9 billion of assets under management at December 31. Clients include private investors, charities and institutions.
The group acquired the Londonbased financial planning and investment advisory business, Timothy James & Partners in 2019.
A spokesperson for Waverton said no changes were planned in respect of staffing at Cornerstone or the company’s office locations.
Acquisitions can allow investment management firms to bulk up in a sector in which scale can be an important factor. Larger groups may find it easier to fund the investment required in IT systems and regulatory compliance.
Several asset management businesses, including Standard Life Aberdeen, have used acquisitions to expand in the market to provide people with financial planning advice.
The 7IM (Seven Investment Management) business, chaired by Scottish financial services sector heavyweight Adrian Grace, recently underlined its appetite for deals in the wealth management sector in Scotland. “Distribution is important to us and we’ll clearly continue to look at distribution,” said Mr Grace.