Consolidator Clifton Asset Management has told Professional Adviser it is in conversation with "14 or 15" advice businesses as potential acquisitions.
Last month, the firm acquired Shrewsbury-based Plan for Life Wealth Management, which it described as the "first step" in a series of targeted acquisitions aimed at creating a regional network of small financial advisory businesses.
The firm's group financial planning director Anthony Carty (pictured) told PA the firm was now in conversation with three direct inquiries off the back of its latest acquisition news, and that it was now in conversation with "around 15 businesses" in total.
These talks are all at various stages, he said, but five of them were "pretty well advanced". "We have got a fairly developed pipeline," Carty continued. "We have a business on the south coast and another business in south Wales."
Since the firm was a "well-established business", he added, it had managed to develop its infrastructure over a long time.
"We have spent a lot of money developing our capabilities such that our infrastructure, IT, client reporting and back-office systems can support a much bigger business than we currently are," Carty said.
"But we also need to start thinking about finding a long-term investment partner in the business to really execute our plans."
Burden on small businesses
As for the firms Clifton is focusing on, Carty said the idea was to concentrate on smaller, one or two-person IFA firms with £20m to £50m assets under management.
He added that for smaller firms, acquisitions would enable them to focus on advising and looking after clients, because running a small advice business brought with it an "increasing burden".
"When you are a smaller firm, it is really difficult to negotiate good commercial funds with providers," he added. "If you hitch your trailer to a larger firm, though, it might be able to negotiate better platform charges or better discretionary fund management charges.
"They just want an infrastructure they can plug into, where a lot of these aggravations are taken away from them. It is better for them and better for their clients."
