Succession Wealth has bought Edinburgh-based IFA Spence & Spence for an undisclosed amount.
Founded in 1994, Spence & Spence manages £170mn in assets and provides holistic, independent financial advice.
Its expertise spans pensions and retirement planning, investments, mortgages and protection, with the deal representing further expansion for Succession in and around Edinburgh.
Charlie Spence, director at Spence & Spence, said: “After almost three decades growing the business, this is a big step, but one we are very excited to take with Succession.
“From our first meeting, the synergies between our two businesses were clear and with the benefit of the backing and support from a large organisation like Aviva, we can focus more on our clients and our relationships with them.”
Spence said there has been a huge amount of support from Succession to ensure a smooth process and they have “considerable experience” when it comes to successfully integrating firms.
“Our priority has always been our staff and clients, and we have no doubt that they will all benefit from Succession’s breadth and depth of expertise and capabilities.”
This is Succession Wealth’s second acquisition under Aviva ownership after the firm bought Yorkshire-based G E Wealth Management in October.
In January 2022, Succession Wealth made its 60th adviser acquisition with Oxford-based firm Oxford Advisory Partnership (OAP).
The acquisition was Succession's second that year, after Pannells, which it acquired earlier that month.
In December 2021, it bought JCF Financial Services and Bankhouse Financial Management.
James Stevenson, chief executive officer at Succession, said: “We are excited to welcome Spence & Spence to Succession and look forward to working with Charlie and his team.
“We saw a lot of companies, but it became obvious to us very quickly that this was a high-quality business, filled with a talented financial planning team who share our values.
“Their longstanding high quality reputation in the marketplace and focus and commitment on building long-term client relationships is something that especially resonated with us.”
Stevenson said the firm is focused on organic growth and strategic acquisitions where it believes they will benefit both parties.
“This enables us to continue to be selective in our acquisitions,” he said.
“We continue to receive notable approaches direct from financial planning firms and from the wider marketplace across the country and we are currently in exclusivity and advanced acquisition discussions with several high-quality independent planning firms.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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