Succession planning: Selling to managers

Selling out to a fund manager is a succession option that's becoming more and more possible for small financial planning practices. This is because, with the advent of technology, such as master trusts and wrap accounts, fund managers are less and less likely to know who their clients are.

As Alan Anderson of Money Managers points out: "They [fund managers] are therefore very keen to get these financial planning businesses and clients back into their books."

Eighteen months ago Armstrong Jones signalled its interest in this market with the advent of the Portfolio Group. The company made it clear it did not want to own financial planning firms.

Instead, it wanted to build and support a network of independently owned practices which, among other things, would place more than half their managed fund business in Armstrong Jones' managed or administered products.