Bromsgrove group's latest buy takes funds under management to more than £5 billion

Published by

Nicky Godding

AFH Financial Group has completed its largest ever acquisition – a £10 million deal that takes the group’s funds under management to more than £5bn.

The company has bought Hull-based CTL Three group, giving it four new offices in Yorkshire and taking its adviser team to around 250.

CTL Three trades as the Insurance Partnership Financial Services, Kirk Ella Investments, PCWM, IFA Professional Planning and Hallgarth Wealth Planning and has offices in Hull, York and Scunthorpe.

CTL Three Managing Director Paul Hodgson will become AFH’s regional director for the north of the country, an area where AFH is keen to expand its presence further after several recent acquisitions.

Paul, who joined the financial services industry from university in 1992, said: “The decision to join forces with AFH does not indicate the end of our ambitions - quite the opposite. We’ve grown to a size where the move to the next level would require significant investment. That left us either having to raise new funding or find the right business to join.

“Having looked at the market and spoken with several potential consolidators, it was very evident that AFH was the standout option given both their commitment to the client at the centre of their business, and their overall culture which aligns with ours. This, combined with the group’s growth aspirations, made it a very straightforward decision.

“We look forward to working with Alan and the team at AFH. Our clients will still be dealt with by the same advisers and administration team, but will now have access to AFH’s unique service proposition, including zero platform fees and low-cost delegated authority funds.”

AFH chief executive Alan Hudson said: “This is a historic deal for AFH. With £5 billion now under management we have met one of our group 3-5-year objectives - after just 2 years.

“We are now established as one of the largest financial advisers in Yorkshire and the North East, and in his new role as regional director Paul will be looking to expand that presence even further.”

AFH Financial Group was founded by chartered financial planner Alan Hudson (pictured) in 1990. Based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the group is one of the fastest-growing financial planning-led investment management companies in the UK.

Its revenues in the year to 31 October 2018 exceeded £50 million, up around 50 per cent on the year before.

Since 2014 AFH has been listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM. Its current market capitalisation is around £165 million.

In November 2017 the Stock Exchange named AFH as one of the “most dynamic SMEs and high growth-potential companies” in the UK. And in August 2018 AFH became the first financial advisers in the UK to completely scrap platform fees for its clients.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.