National IFA firm Chase de Vere is planning to launch a Discretionary Model Portfolio Service in the first half of 2018.

A Chase de Vere spokesman said: "We are actively looking to recruit an experience investment professional to take up the role of Head of Portfolio Management. This person will be based in our Bah office and will be responsible for running the new service."

The head of portfolio management will be supported by a research and technical advice services team, revealed the company.

"The new discretionary service will sit alongside our advisory service so we can select the most appropriate option for each of our clients," the company added.

Chase de Vere has previously only provided advisory investment services.

The charges are yet to be finalised but they will ensure they are "competitive compared with other discretionary investment services," the company said.

Stephen Kavanagh, chief executive, Chase de Vere, said: “We have seen increasing demand from our clients for a discretionary investment service and more of our competitors are offering them.

"We need to continually adapt and improve our services to meet the demands of our clients and I see this launch as a natural evolution and enhancement of our advice and investment proposition. We will be able to offer our clients a discretionary or advisory investment choice depending on their requirements.
 
“We are well placed to offer this service as we have over 200 independent financial advisers across the UK and billions of pounds of assets under advice. However, we want to ensure that we also provide a market-leading investment service and so, while we have many technical and investment experts at Chase de Vere, we are actively looking for an experienced investment professional to run our discretionary services.”

The firm recently acquired Liverpool-based, 80-employee Financial Planning firm Medical Money Management, a specialist in providing Financial Planning advice to medical, dental and other professionals.

The deal for an undisclosed sum will see Medical Money Management’s 16 Partners and 64 employees join Chase de Vere, adding 30 financial advisers to the existing team. Medical Money Management said it chose to be acquired by Chase de Vere to maintain its ability to offer independent financial advice rather than restricted advice.