Acquisitive Chartered Financial Planning firm Fairstone has acquired Dundee-based Findlay & Company Financial Services, its third acquisition this year.

Findlay & Company Financial Services is a whole-of-market advice firm specialising in advice and management of investment and retirement portfolios.

The acquisition brings 1,000 clients, five advisers and four support staff to Fairstone with funds under management in excess of £100m.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is under Fairstone's downstream buy out model which integrates firms into the group typically over a two-year period prior to final acquisition. Findlay & Company Financial Services entered the downstream buy out model three years ago.

Steve Race, principal at Findlay & Company Financial Services, said that one of the main reasons they chose to join Fairstone was that by joining the group they would be able to provide their clients with “the comfort that we will be around for years.”

The firm had several propositions from buyers but chose to go with Fairstone due to their “professional approach and their commitment to our customers and our company.”

Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone, said their downstream buyout model is “the exact opposite of the traditional consolidator model and our underlying numbers – from client satisfaction and client retention through to earn-out performance – fully back this up.

“Buying businesses is easy, integrating multiple firms into one organisation that can deliver sustainable growth is far more difficult. That is exactly why we developed the DBO model and why we work with quality firms that are confident about the future.”

Fairstone was named the most acquisitive wealth management firm in the UK for 2020 in the ICAEW Corporate Financial annual review.

Headquartered in Newcastle with 42 locations across the UK, Fairstone oversees £10.6bn funds under management for over 34,000 clients.