Merger of major wealth management companies completes

Published by

Nicky Godding

The merger of two major wealth management companies, Tilney and Smith & Williamson, has completed. The companies, which first announced their intention last year, has now been renamed Tilney Smith & Williamson. The Group says there will be no immediate changes to its existing principal client facing brands: Tilney, Smith & Williamson and Bestinvest.

The merger has created a wealth management and professional services group with more than £47 billion of assets under management (AUM) and around £530 million of pro forma revenue. Tilney Smith & Williamson is the third-largest UK wealth manager when ranked by revenues and fourth when measured by AUM. It is also the sixth-largest UK professional services group by fee income.

The merged business has around 290 investment managers, 265 financial planners and more than 140 professional services partners and directors located across an extensive office network across the UK, including offices in Bristol, Cheltenham, Hereford and Bracknell.

The newly-constituted Board of Tilney Smith & Williamson comprises eleven directors drawn from both the two previous boards and representatives of the group’s major shareholders. The members of the Board, subject to FCA approval, are Will Samuel (Chairman), Chris Woodhouse (Group Chief Executive), Andrew Baddeley (Group Chief Financial Officer), Elizabeth Chambers, David Cobb, Peter Deming, Keith Jones, Philip Muelder, Chris Pell, Carla Stent and Kevin Stopps.

Will Samuel, Chairman of Tilney Smith & Williamson, said: “We are delighted to have successfully completed this major transaction against what is unquestionably a highly challenging economic backdrop. This is not only a transformational moment for both of the previous businesses, it is also a significant development within the UK financial services sector, creating a scaled-up group with an unrivalled service proposition that can support clients with the management of both their personal wealth and business interests.”

Chris Woodhouse, Group Chief Executive of Tilney Smith & Williamson, added:“We have brought together two very successful and long-established businesses that are highly complementary to one another. Together they bring an incredible pool of talented professionals with a strong ethos of delivering exceptional service to their clients. This is a great foundation for the future. Since we first announced the intention to merge a year ago, a huge amount of work has taken place to identify our respective strengths and plan the integration on a ‘best of both’ approach. Over the coming months, we look forward to integrating the businesses and creating a group that will be uniquely well-placed to meet the needs of 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.