IFA company buys Yorkshire financial planning firm

Acquired business will become part of the group’s newly created remote advice arm

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UK-based IFA group Independent Wealth Planners (IWP) has acquired mother-daughter financial planning firm Acuity Wealth Management (AWM) for an undisclosed sum.

The deal boosts IWP’s assets under administration by £85m ($117m, €101m), adding a further 228 clients in the process.

Yorkshire-based AWM is headed up by Janet Comrie and her daughter Sarah Dougal. The pair, both financial planners, have worked together for more than two decades, amassing over 50 years’ financial planning experience between them.

They are supported by four administrative staff and a paraplanner, all of whom will remain in place as part of the acquisition.

AWM becomes the founding representative of IWP Advisory Services, the group’s direct-to-consumer channel, which will provide financial advice to customers who are unable to travel to their local office or prefer to deal with an adviser virtually.

Best of both worlds

Janet Comrie, director and financial planner at AWM, said: “By partnering with IWP we can give our clients the best of both worlds. The adviser to client relationship is built on a mutual trust, and so a local and personalised service proves invaluable.

“The acquisition means the close-knit relationships we’ve fostered with our clients can be complemented by the scale and resource of IWP whose centralised support will free up more time for us to focus on helping our clients achieve their financial goals.”

In September 2021, IWP bought Hampshire-based advice firm Encompass Financial Management for an undisclosed sum.

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