IWM has re-branded to Beaufort Financial and was formerly a member of the Caerus network. The firm, led by principal adviser Paul Hyde, includes two other advisers and one member of staff. There are 300 private and corporate clients and the firm has £15 million in Asserts Under Management.

IWM’s principal adviser Paul Hyde said: "Once we had made the decision to leave our previous network, we researched the options available to us very thoroughly. A number of networks and consolidators had courted us but we decided to join Beaufort because of their focus on combining the ‘art’ of understanding clients’ financial goals and aspirations, along with the ‘science’ of identifying the best solutions to meet them.

“We believe that Beaufort Investment Management (BIM), the group’s DFM, has a singular approach to long term investing. Meticulous research coupled with the fund managers’ experience and knowledge of the underlying funds and their managers means that the risk-graded model portfolios perform very creditably against the benchmarks. The pricing is competitive and transparent and we look forward to recommending the BIM proposition to our clients.”

Beaufort's executive chairman Simon Goldthorpe said: "We are delighted that Paul and his team have joined us and we look forward to helping him and his colleagues grow this business and expand the client bank. Paul’s firm is the ideal match for us and will fit neatly into our partnership.”