Perspective Financial Group has announced today that it has completed a further acquisition, of Primera Wealth Management based in Essex. It means that the Group has made 20 acquisitions this year and 76 in total since it was founded 16 years ago.
Perspective now has 500 staff, 38 local offices and 140 financial planners, a third of whom are
qualified to Chartered level or above. It manages £8 billion of assets on behalf of clients. The
Group is three times the size it was five years ago.
Ian Wilkinson, Perspective’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We feel very positive about the scale and pace of
progress we have made in 2023 towards our goal of creating the best client-centric financial
planning firm for both our clients and our people. Successfully completing and integrating an
acquisition every two to three weeks is testament to the professionalism of our whole team.
“Our sustained growth is enabling us to become a better, not just bigger, firm which is very
important to us. We remain highly selective in the firms we acquire – they must be genuinely
client-centric, not just claim to be. In our experience, it’s easy to say those words, but another
thing entirely to apply them in practice. The average length of our client relationships is 25 years
and often span four generations in a family, which are impressive benchmarks that say a lot
about the level of expertise and service we consistently deliver to clients.
“Our reputation for doing what we say and delivering on our promises in transactions has meant
a number of firms have re-engaged with us after terminating discussions with other acquirers,
when the latter have been unable to complete their proposed acquisition for various reasons.
“Our Perspective Academy launched in 2014 is really proving its value in this high growth
environment with over 40 people moving through it at any one time, both new hires and those
joining via acquisitions.
“As a financial planner myself with 30 years’ experience who still advises clients, I retain a strong
belief in the benefits of developing and nurturing talent in-house. That way, people have the
right values to be successful with us.
“Given that two of the main motivations for firms in this sector wishing to sell up are the ability
for the owners to retire in the near future, or to grow their business further with the resources
of a larger group behind them, a strong pipeline of young, motivated talent coming up through
our Academy is vital to ensure clients can rely on us over the long term.
“We are seeing productive results from working with universities including Northumbria,
Lancaster, Leeds and Manchester to position financial planning as an excellent professional
career path for graduates of all degree disciplines. The combination of a structured training
programme leading to Chartered level qualifications, and the option of developing a client or
technical career depending on the individual’s skill set, is highly attractive.
“I am quite certain that Perspective’s best years still lie ahead and warmly welcome our latest
acquisition and their team to the Group.”
Perspective’s latest acquisition is of Primera Wealth Management Ltd near Chelmsford, Essex which brings 340
households as clients and £205 million of Assets Under Management.
Neil Donnelly and Mark Copsey, Directors of Primera Wealth Management Ltd said: “Over
recent years our attention has naturally been drawn towards the future of our business and the
continuation of our advice to clients well into the future. After an exhaustive search, one
business in particular, Perspective, stood out. We are therefore delighted to join them, as their
ethos, ethics and client focused approach fully align with our own values.”
