Financial planning group taken under CBPE Capital wing

Wilmslow-based financial planning and wealth advisory business, Perspective Financial Planning Group, has received new investment.

CBPE Capital, from London, has invested an undisclosed sum, following approval from the FCA, taking the North West firm on from from Mosaic Private Equity.

Perspective operates a client-centric culture, employing more than 185 staff across 15 offices.

It provides its 18,000 clients with holistic and impartial financial advice to aid them in achieving their investment goals and objectives.

Perspective helps clients who are looking for advice on retirement planning, investment, inheritance tax planning, personal wealth or corporate planning.

Through its Cambridge Investments Limited offering, Perspective also offers investment management services to its wealth advisory clients.

CBPE is partnering with management, who are all re-investing in the business alongside CBPE.

Together, they aim to accelerate Perspective’s expansion, combining continued organic growth as well as making acquisitions in what remains a highly-fragmented market.

The investment continues CBPE’s successful track record of investing in the financial services industry, where it has helped businesses develop into sector leaders.

This includes the IPOs of JTC, a global administration provider, in 2018 and Xafinity, UK corporate pensions consultancy, in 2017.

CBPE’s current portfolio includes investments in Compre (run-off insurance) and Xceptor (technology for financial services). It also recently announced its investment in Centralis, a corporate services provider, subject to regulatory approval.

Richard Thompson, Director, CBPE, said: “Perspective is a great business with a strong management team, robust compliance approach and a respected and increasingly high-profile brand.

“We have been hugely impressed with the strength of the team, but also their absolute focus on the client.

“We believe this quality is key to the success of Perspective. We look forward to supporting management as they deliver on the strategy which combines a continued focus on providing high quality advice to their existing client base, growing organically and making selective acquisitions.”

Ian Wilkinson, group managing director, Perspective, said: “CBPE is the right partner for us as we enter the next stage in our development.

“They have a proven track record in the financial services space and have helped build some great companies.

“In CBPE we have found a partner that will help us accelerate our organic and acquisitive growth strategy. We are excited about working together to expand our business and to continue to deliver a quality service to current and new clients.”

The investment was led by Richard Thompson at CBPE with support from Harry Hewlett, Oliver Walton and Ian Moore.

CBPE was advised by Zeus Capital (corporate finance), Mayer Brown (legals), PwC (financial, tax, regulatory and structuring), LEK (commercial), AJ Gallagher (insurance) and Intechnica (IT).

Perspective vendor shareholders were advised by KPMG Corporate Finance and DWF’s Manchester office.

Claire Frangou, director at KPMG, said: “The IFA market is a dynamic space that is continually evolving as businesses seek scale in order to grow market share at speed, and independent IFAs seek both exit options and a solution to the increasing regulatory burden.

“This deal is a great example of an ambitious business achieving strong growth through a buy-and-build strategy underpinned by a future-proof model.

“We are delighted to have led this transaction which we believe will pave the way to further significant consolidation activity in the IFA market.”

Paul Hogarth, chairman of Perspective Financial Group, said: “Since inception in 2008, Perspective has pursued a clear strategy to build a national presence and proposition that enables clients to benefit from high-quality independent financial advice at low cost through a highly-efficient, purpose-built model.

“This deal provides an exit for Mosaic Private Equity who backed the initial growth phase, and ensures Ian, Julie, David and the team have a supportive investor to fund the next phase of growth.”