Chartered Financial Planning firm Fidelius is to acquire two Financial Planning businesses from Pacific Asset Management (PAM) in a swap deal.

As part of the deal PAM - part of Sir John Beckwith’s extensive Pacific Investments Group - will acquire Fidelius’ Discretionary Fund Manager (DFM) Parallel Investment Management. 

The deal is described by PAM and Fidelius as a “strategic partnership.”

PAM’s Financial Planning firms Chartered Financial Management and Zen Wealth LLP, which PAM acquired in July 2018 and 2019 respectively, will become part of the Fidelius Group. 

Chartered Financial Management, based in Somerset, advises on £250m of client assets and London-based Zen Wealth has assets under advice of £30m. 

Chartered Financial Management was established in 1998 and most of its 1,000 clients are in the South of England. It serves corporate and private clients and offers a range of services including employee benefits, auto-enrolment, protection, retirement planning and tax efficient savings.  Zen Wealth LLP is a Chartered Financial Planning firm and is an appointed representative of Chartered Financial Management.

PAM, which has £1.2bn in AUM, is the asset management business of Sir John Beckwith’s Pacific Investments Group which owns or has founded a number of investment firms including Liontrust.

Fidelius is based in Bath with offices in Cheltenham and Chelmsford and advises on £1.5bn of assets. Pre-acquisition, Fidelius had 104 staff in three offices.

Matthew Lamb, chief executive of PAM, said: “We are delighted that the Fidelius Group has decided to partner with PAM. The combination of PAM’s investment management capabilities with the strength and breadth of Fidelius Group’s Chartered Financial Planning expertise makes for a strong long-term partnership and great cultural fit, not only for our group, but for our advisers and all our clients.”

Jim Grant, chief executive of Fidelius, said: “We are very excited to welcome Chartered Financial Management (UK) Ltd and Zen Wealth to the Fidelius family. Both are high quality, profitable businesses which have long shared our ‘client first’ ethos. The partnership with PAM will bring significant cost benefits to clients, strengthen our investment offering and add value to our advisers. 

Russell Butts and Jon Marshfield, directors at Chartered Financial Management, said: “We have known Jim and the Fidelius Group for many years and we are hugely excited about joining the team.

“Fidelius has a wealth of experience but, importantly to us, they have broader and deeper resources which will enable us to focus on what we do best, looking after our clients interests. We share a strong culture and values, centred around clients and with the enhanced support the larger Group brings we are strongly positioned to maintain the high quality service we strive to provide in the years ahead.”

Pacific Investments Group was founded in 1994 by Sir John Beckwith and Mark Johnson. The group has founded or runs a number of businesses including Liontrust, Thames River Capital, River & Mercantile, Nevsky Capital, Europa Capital and Puma Capital.