Kingswood, the wealth management firm, has revealed it aims to double its assets under management from £2.5bn to £5bn in 2020 through consolidation. This is part of the firm’s long-term plans to manage $50bn of assets across the world in five years time.
Kingswood acquired a range of firms last year, including two firms in the US, and also secured £80m from Pollen Street Capital to fund acquisitions. The Pollen Street funding is expected to be allocated to purchases within 18 months.
Kingswood’s typical acquisition strategy is to purchase firms with principals – usually in their mid-50s – who will stay on after the transaction to help the integration and growth process.
CEO Gary Wilder and CFO Patrick Goulding appear confident in the firm’s ambitious expansion plans, citing an acquisition pipeline of 20 UK firms as well as the recent US purchases as an indication of Kingswood’s growth potential.
In a market update at the end of 2019, Kingswood said: “While UK IFA consolidation is not new, Kingswood’s group structure allows it to offer generous potential upside opportunities to IFA principals aiming to sell their business.
“As a consequence, Kingswood provides large potential growth opportunities for IFAs in their mid-50s as opposed to the more widely implemented ‘bolt-on’ model where acquired IFAs, often in their mid-60s, are forced to integrate into a large corporate-style culture.”