Aberdeen Group is selling its £3.6 billion Aberdeen Financial Planning subsidiary to Ascot Lloyd for an undisclosed sum.
Formerly 1825, it was set up as part of Standard Life in 2015 and scaled up through a series of acquisitions. Since the beginning of last year the rebranded business has been part of Interactive Investor.
Aberdeen Financial Planning has about 150 advisers based across the UK and is separate from the group’s adviser business which provides solutions and technology to UK advisers.
The acquisition will take Ascot Lloyd’s total assets under advice to £14.5bn, adding 6,300 clients. About 60 advisers are also expected to join Ascot Lloyd. The private client services team from Aberdeen Financial Planning is not included in the sale.
Ascot Lloyd will continue to use Aberdeen’s Wrap platform after the deal is completed. The private equity-backed consolidator added the platform to its panel earlier this year.
Jason Windsor, CEO of the Aberdeen Group, said the sale is part of the asset manager’s plans to simplify its business.
He said: “Today marks another step forward in our efforts to simplify our business so that we can focus on our ambition to become the UK’s leading wealth and investments group.
“We have three core businesses, Interactive Investor, adviser and investments, all with clear plans for growth, and these actions are part of our drive to improve performance and execute on our plan.”
Richard Wilson, CEO of Interactive Investor, added that the team had concluded that the “face-to-face holistic financial advice model” was “not the best fit” with the rest of its business.
Aberdeen first confirmed that it was putting its Financial Planning business up for sale in its half year results, following months of speculation around potential buyers.
Francis Jackson, CEO of Ascot Lloyd, said: “The acquisition of Aberdeen Financial Planning marks a major milestone on the Ascot Lloyd journey. The leadership team and advisers we encountered are highly experienced, skilled professionals who will integrate well into the culture at Ascot Lloyd.”
Ascot Lloyd was set up in 2003 and has around £10bn in funds under influence and provides Financial Planning, wealth management and corporate benefit solutions to more than 20,000 clients. It has more than 500 staff in 17 UK locations.
European private equity firm Nordic Capital acquired Ascot Lloyd from US-based Oaktree Capital Management for an undisclosed sum in October 2022.
In October last year it acquired Scottish adviser Create and Prosper Financial Services, bringing £254m in assets under administration.
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