1825, launched last year, has announced the acquisition of Almary Green for an undisclosed fee. An industry insider told Financial Planning Today he would estimate the sale to be in the region of £7m to £10m based on AUM.
On completion, Standard Life will have over 50 Financial Planners advising over 7,000 clients on around £2.0 billion of their assets.
Almary Green, which provides personal advice to 1,900 clients, was founded by managing director Carl Lamb, a Chartered Financial Planner, in 2001.
The Norwich-based firm, which has chartered status, is reported to have assets under advice of around £400m.
The business has 44 employees, including 22 advisers and Paraplanners.
Mr Lamb will continue to head the business and will join 1825’s executive committee.
Carl Lamb, Almary Green managing director, said: "One change is that we are moving from an independent status to being restricted. You will appreciate that I haven’t taken this route lightly but I do feel that the argument for independence has weakened with the pressures on affordability and access to advice, and that the competitive nature of the industry means that our offering will remain in our clients’ best interests. Aligning ourselves with one of the industry’s major players, Standard Life, will ensure that we can plan for the long term with confidence and bring continuity and stability to our clients.
“The changing pension landscape and its inherent opportunities and risks have created a huge need for quality advice. As an industry, we need to bring advice to a wider audience and to change the advice model accordingly.
"Our challenge as a firm has been to scale up our business to meet the demand, ensuring we have the resources to provide cutting edge service and advice to clients and, at the same time, tackle the issues brought about by increasing regulatory requirements and costs.
“I truly believe that joining 1825 will give us the best foundation and resources to continue to rise to that challenge.
“A major factor is the breadth and depth of the 1825 client proposition, which has a strong focus on goal-based financial planning and positive client outcomes.”
Steve Murray, 1825 CEO, said: “Today’s announcement continues to accelerate our ambition to build a nationwide Financial Planning business of significant scale through organic growth and the acquisition of progressive Financial Planning firms who are aligned with our values and vision.”
He said the transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016, subject to certain conditions being satisfied, including receipt of regulatory approvals.