Concluding a deal on Tuesday that has been ongoing since last year, Harwood CEO, Alan Durrant said the acquisition of Wellian formed a critical part of its bid to create a holistic wealth management business.
“Wellian is an excellent fit for our business bringing discretionary portfolios managed on a wide range of the platforms supported by advisers. When combined with our range of Discovery Managed Funds, we believe we can now present a full range that will meet the needs of advisers and their clients,” he said in a statement.
Under the new structure, Wellian will retain its corporate identity and branding and will continue to manage its discretionary portfolios, but it will have access to a much bigger base of support, Wellian investment director Chris Mayo told Portfolio Adviser.
Durrant will become CEO of the combined group, while Harwood’s Richard Philbin will become chief investment officer, working alongside Mayo. Wellian MD Eric Clapton, has agreed to stay on as a consultant.
According to Durrant, no timeline has been attached to the duration of Clapton’s consultancy.
“The most important thing is continuity for clients, we want to reassure clients that the same award-winning team that was representing them last week is the same as the one that is there this week,” Durrant said.
From an investment point of view, Mayo said, there will be a combined approach and, certainly there will be a commonality of holdings.
Durrant added that the work of bringing the businesses together has already begun. “there are a lot of complementary strengths. Wellian’s process is clearly a very good one, while we bring among other things our own quantitative investment tools in Portcullis and Semaphore to the table.
Claption said: “This represents a hugely positive step in the evolution of Wellian. The growing number of Independent Financial Advisers introducing their clients to Wellian will undoubtedly see this as adding to the strength in depth for the business. We are particularly excited about the addition of the Discovery Funds which complements our current award-winning offering”
Asked if any further acquisitions are planned, Durrant said: “we are a growth business and you will see more of this going forward as there remain consolidation opportunities. We are not trying to be a ‘pac-man’ but we are a growth business in what is a growth industry.”
