Beaufort Group is eyeing up advice firms

Beaufort Group, a financial planning firm founded in 2012, is looking to grow externally in the wake of the reorganisation of its sales and distribution processes. Simon Goldthorpe, the executive chairman of Beaufort Group, has spoken about Beaufort’s aim to expand by purchasing young adviser firms.
“Our ethos is about growing businesses and that doesn’t always sit well with someone who wants to be out of the industry. We are restructuring our sales and distribution processes right now to go out and get our message out there.
“We have had a couple of firms come along and we have taken a look at them and we have said they were not right for us. We have been doing it quite slowly but of course we have growth ambitions. We have created a valuable business and we have got in excess of £1bn in assets.
“We want to carry on doing that but if I wanted to hoover up a lot of assets I would have a restricted arm. I am not a flag waver for independence but I believe it is right.”
Goldthorpe emphasized that Beaufort Group are not looking to grow for the sake of it, and that acquisitions will be viewed as “partnerships” that must be “mutually beneficial”. He also added that Beaufort would make it easy for new members to leave the network.
“It would make my year to find some young advisers who wanted to take over their business. Maybe they need to start their own business and I would like to get a few of those going in small partnerships. We will do everything for you, you just decide what address you want to work from. Obviously it has got to be mutually beneficial but getting access to that funding is near impossible.”
For more information on the M&A market and specifically selling your business to Beaufort Group, contact Gwill Evans – Gwill.Evans@gunnerandco.com.