North East’s Fairstone Group acquires Cheshire-based wealth management firm

Financial planning firm Fairstone has completed its acquisition of Cheshire’s Hammond McNulty Wealth Management.

Hammond McNulty joined Fairstone’s downstream buyout (DBO) programme in 2012 and has since fully integrated into the group.

Fairstone said the DBO arrangement enabled the Congleton-based company to boost revenues and unlock growth ahead of the acquisition.

The deal added around £50m in funds under management to Hammond McNulty’s portfolio, but the firm hopes to grow the figure to £100m in the next five years.

Five staff have joined the group as part of the agreement.

Mark Pedley, company principal at Fairstone, said: “With MiFID II and GDPR coming into force, we feel confident in Fairstone’s solid structure and the resources which have been made available to meet the challenges of the changing face of the financial services sector.

“We want to make sure that our clients can continue to enjoy the high level of personalised service they have come to expect and in Fairstone we have found a forward-looking partner which we can rely on.”

Fairstone Group CEO Lee Hartley commented: “This marks another significant step in our growth strategy and we are thrilled to have started the year so strongly.

“Our model ensures businesses are fully integrated before the point of sale, securing a positive impact from the start for quality firms like Hammond McNulty.”

Over the last 12 months, Fairstone has acquired eight firms through its DBO programme. It expects to complete a further nine acquisitions in 2018.

Speaking further, Lee said: “Our research shows that partner firms which have undergone our DBO integration process enjoy on average 15% organic growth per year.

“Mark has built a team that is completely dedicated to providing the highest levels of service and impartial advice to clients and we are certain the business will continue to do so. We look forward to working with them and helping them to grow as part of Fairstone Financial Management.”

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