Fairstone buys in West Country

The acquisitive wealth manager has bought Taunton-based 1st Financial Group, which manages £125m worth of client assets. The bought business includes three IFAs and a mortgage and equity release adviser. 1st Financial Group, led by IFA Phil Higginson, pictured left, first struck up a relationship with Fairstone in 2022, through its downstream buyout (DBO) programme. "Since signing the DBO agreement, we've benefited hugely from the additional support and resources of what is one of the UK's largest and most trusted wealth management groups in the UK," Higginson said. "It has enabled...