The company opened offices in London and Manchester at the end of last year, and was awarded full regulatory status by the Financial Conduct Authority in February 2015.
Christopher Wicks has been appointed managing director of the company’s UK operations, and is tasked with growing the business to 12 IFAs by the end of the year, and acquiring £750m in assets under management over the next three years.
As part of its UK growth plan, the company said it planned to acquire smaller UK IFA firms and target advisers who wished to retain their UK client base while travelling to international markets.
It will also look to take advantage of the recent UK pension reforms, which removed the requirement for an annuity, by targeting offshore advisers in the UK who have clients requiring advice on transferring their defined-benefit schemes but do not currently meet the requirement of doing so via an FCA-authorised adviser.
“Major force”
The company will also interact with Holborn’s wider advisory network by providing services to existing clients who return to the UK.
Holborn Assets chief executive, Robert Parker, said: “Eighty-seven per cent of Holborn Assets’ 15,000 clients are British, so we need a strong UK presence to match.
“The wealth of knowledge we bring to the UK non-domicile market and the migrating British public will establish us as a major force in financial advice in the UK in the next three years.”
Wicks (pictured) added: “The level of marketing resource, expertise and the backing of a multimillion dollar global financial services business far outstrips much of our competition, and will put us in position to be a major player in the UK market in a relatively short period of time.”
He said the company’s UK offices would allow it to continue to offer services to clients who returned to the UK and could no longer be advised by their existing offshore adviser.
“It is a case of looking after these UK clients for the advisers while they are away building businesses,” he said.
