Expanding Chartered Planner HFMC Wealth has acquired central London-based Chartered Planner R&S Financial Planning.

HFMC says the deal will strengthen its London office and increase its HNW client base.

R&S Financial Planning client-facing staff will be retained by HFMC.

R&S founder Vince Lane will continue to oversee his key client relationships and the team will be bolstered by Darren Berry joining the team on a full time basis.  Mr Berry has previously looked after private clients at UBS and is a Chartered Financial Planner as well as a STEP Trust and Estate Practitioner and a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society.

R&S, in business since 1985, advises over 100 families with many clients with the firm for several decades. The deal will add to HFMC Wealth around £630,000 of annual recurring revenue and assets under advice of £145m.

The average R&S client size is £1.2m and HFMC says this will blend well with HFMC Wealth’s High Net Worth proposition.

R&S owner and director Vince Lane said: “We have felt for some time that joining a larger firm would be the best way to deliver the wider range of services we wish to provide our clients, while also providing a controlled succession to my ownership of the business over the next 10 years.”

“To ensure continuity for our clients, it was vital that any such partner shared our values and those of our clients, whilst mirroring our approach to wealth management. I wanted to have complete confidence that our clients would continue to receive high-quality ongoing advice and service for as long as they need it.”

“In HFMC Wealth we have found a partner that meets all these requirements and who will protect the legacy of the business we are proud to have built over the last 37 years. Their vision of growing the business in a sustainable and client focussed manner, without the short term pressures so often associated with firms that align with private equity, is refreshing as I can rest easy knowing that my clients’ interests are aligned with those of the business.”

Jeremy Hoyland, chief executive at HFMC Wealth, said: “Our growth strategy includes making carefully selected acquisitions. We worked hard during 2022 to identify planning firms which meet our high net worth criteria and that truly have the interests of their clients and staff at their heart.”

“The quality of the R&S business and staff is self-evident – like us, they have attracted committed and highly qualified professionals and have invested in their training and development to build a high quality, sustainable business based on long-term client relationships.”

“We continue to pursue other potential acquisitions with like-minded wealth and Financial Planning firms and expect further deals to be agreed in 2023 as we continue our growth strategy. We are building a sustainable Financial Planning and wealth management business that retains the depth of understanding and relationship that comes with being a client focussed business whilst providing the range of services normally associated with a Private Bank.”

HFMC now employs more than 20 Chartered Financial Planners and provides a range of wealth planning and Financial Planning services to corporate and individual clients.

HFMC has offices in London and Weybridge, Surrey. It has acquired several advisory firms in recent years and bought Generic Financial Management in 2018 in a deal worth up to £3m. In Feb 2020 it acquired London wealth manager Aspinalls. The deal increased assets under advice and management at the time by about £130m to nearly £1.5bn.