Financial Planning firm Bellpenny has completed two more IFA deals, increasing funds under management by over £150m and 500 extra active clients.

The acquisition of Cambridge-based IFA, Ashton KCJ Financial Planning LLP, encompasses around £60m of funds under management. The business was jointly owned by Ashton KCJ Solicitors and Price Bailey LLP.
The second purchase is that of Horsham-based IFA Principals in Practice and involves £90m of funds under management.
The acquisitions take Bellpenny’s total number of acquisitions since launch to 32.

Bellpenny’s acquisitions director Dominic Rose said: “From the outset, we anticipated that our model would have particular appeal to professional services firms looking to recalibrate their approach to financial services, and the Ashton KCJ deal is yet another example of this.

“PIP is a slightly larger business, but shares several characteristics with Ashton KCJ including the high quality of its client base, its affluent catchment area and a similar average portfolio size.
“Clients coming to us from both acquired businesses will continue to benefit from face to face service from financial planners based in their local area.”
Alan Brown of Ashton KCJ Solicitors said: “Once we had taken a strategic decision around the future of Ashton KCJ Financial Planning LLP, our focus was firmly on ensuring that existing clients, and any referred in the future, would receive the high level of individual service they expect and deserve. We were confident that Bellpenny is in a strong position to deliver this client-centred advice and service.
“We feel it is especially important that clients will continue to be looked after by locally-based advisers, so this was another thing that helped to seal our decision to go with Bellpenny.”
Erik Sorensen, director of principals in Practice, said: “We’re proud to have helped many people work towards and ultimately achieve their financial goals over the years, while at the same time forging close bonds with our clients. In considering our sale options, it was therefore of paramount importance to us that the high level of care, service and professionalism our clients have enjoyed from PIP would be sustained into the future.
“Of the prospective buyers we spoke to, it was clear that Bellpenny has the ideal ethos and infrastructure to carry on our work. We have full confidence that they will continue to deliver to our clients’ highest expectations.”