AFH, the rapidly growing wealth manager founded and run by a Chartered Financial Planner, has made its 14th acquisition of 2018, expanding the group’s presence in Wiltshire and the South.

AFH is joining forces with Salisbury-based Emery Little Financial Services LLP, which was established 10 years ago, in a deal worth up to £1.6m.

Emery Little’s Wilts office has 700 clients, mostly in Wiltshire, Dorset and Hampshire.

Emery Little director Derek Gibbens, whose financial services career spans 30 years, will become an AFH adviser while senior adviser Brian Little will retire.

AFH has effectively acquired the client portfolios of Emery Little Financial Services LLP based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Mr Gibbens will continue to work with the existing clients of Emery. 

Under the terms of the deal, the initial sum being paid is £870,000 in cash, funded from AFH's existing cash pile. Further sums will be payable in cash over the next 26 months, subject to performance criteria being achieved, with the maximum purchase price being £1.6m.

Mr Gibbens said: “Like many advisers, I saw that joining forces with a group that provided the back-office support and (would) leave me free to be an IFA full time was a win for me and a win for my clients.”

AFH chief executive and Chartered Financial Planner Alan Hudson said: “I’m delighted to welcome Derek and his clients to AFH. We’ve seen a number of advisers across the south of England find a welcome and supportive home at AFH in recent months.

“Now Derek’s clients will see more of him and benefit from AFH’s expertise and institutional purchasing power.”

AFH’s turnover in the half year to March was £22.7m. It currently has over £4bn in funds under management.

AFH is based in Bromsgrove in the West Midlands.

• Emery Little Financial Services LLP of Salisbury, Wilts, is not connected to Financial Planning firm Emery Little Wealth Management of Hemel Hempstead. 

• Editor's Note: original story updated at 9 am to add more details of the deal.