The Financial Planning arm of Sanlam UK is to be combined with four others into one business but the restructure is “in no way related” to a review of staff and regional offices, officials have insisted.

An ‘efficiency’ review of Sanlam Wealth Planning, with proposals to centralise customer service and business support functions in Bristol, was announced in mid-October.

There were media reports at the time that the company had been considering closing two offices and making up to 100 staff redundant but Sanlam told Financial Planning Today that these were “based on inaccurate assumptions”.

Sanlam said this week that there was no change since the October statement, which said: “No decisions have been made with regards to redundancies and office closures.”

The results of the review of Sanlam’s support / administration staff across the company and its office locations and regional adviser presence will not be announced until next year.

A statement from Sanlam read: “The consultation is as a result of various acquisitions and amalgamations which have taken place in the last few years – and of the next step in Sanlam’s evolution and growth ambition. With a focus very much on growth.”

The company said the move, revealed this week, to put its Financial Planning arm Sanlam Wealth Planning under management of a single corporate entity, along with four others, was part of its bid for growth.

Jonathan Polin, the recently appointed chief executive of Sanlam Private Wealth, will become the new UK group’s chief executive.

The combined business incorporates:

· Sanlam Private Wealth: The discretionary fund manager
· Sanlam Investments & Pensions: The life and pensions business
· Sanlam FOUR: The boutique asset management and fund solutions business
· Sanlam Securities: provider of institutional and retail stockbroking services

The restructure forms a UK group with combined assets under management and influence of nearly £9 billion. It also has a significant shareholding in the wrap platform Nucleus, with over £8bn under administration, and its 20% stake in fixed income specialist, Cameron Hume.

Sanlam explained the re-organisation by saying in a statement: “Sanlam UK’s strategy, with Jonathan at the helm, is firmly focussed on unifying the company so it is easier to understand, easier to manage, can facilitate dynamic growth and deliver a cohesive approach for customers.

“Sanlam remains committed to having a strong regional footprint in the UK. As with any re-organisation and integration process, there will be a period of staff turnover. All companies experience this, Sanlam is no different.

“A full announcement related to this issue will be made in the New Year.”

The on-going review is designed “to increase operational efficiency and improve consistency in customer experience”, officials said.

The new UK group, to be known as Sanlam UK, will take effect from January 1.

Mr Polin said: “As a single, unified business, with our combined talents and with Sanlam’s significant global strength to support the development of our UK operations, the future is very exciting for our business, for our employees, for our partners and, most importantly, for our customers.”

Alex Morley, chief executive at Sanlam Wealth Planning, said centralisation of support services in Bristol was the “obvious next step in our evolution”.

He said: “We must look at this empathetically, retaining talent and maintaining our profile, presence and reputation across our footprint.”