Deal Dive: Advice M&A off to hotter start in 2025

This year is off to a hotter start in terms of confirmed UK advice firm acquisitions, with three deals in February and five in January compared to six across both months in 2024. Who's buying? In February, there was a mixed picture in terms of who was doing the buying. Two firm transactions came from private equity (PE)-backed consolidators, while Schroders-owned Benchmark undertook one deal and Lumin Wealth, majority owned by Swiss wealth management business VZ Group, also bagged one business. Last month's M&A action followed a January that was a tale of PE-backed businesses jumpin...