Elevation opens the door for younger IFAs from its academy as the company acquires three firms of retiring IFAs in February 2021
Elevation Financial Group has completed on the purchase of three more IFA practices, and will be looking to add more to the existing portfolio in 2021. The Company is set to double in size, increasing the funds it manages to £500 million.
“Since being founded in 2011, we have grown rapidly and successfully through the adoption of a successful buy-and-integrate strategy,” said Tony Smith, Group Managing Director at Elevation.
The company has been able to put in place a rapid growth strategy for the next three years, thanks to support from Dyer Baade who advised on structure, and Shawbrook Bank, who provided facilities to underpin the expansion programme.
As well as acquiring extra business, we’ll also be bringing talented new staff into the Elevation family, as well as promoting several of our existing team. It’s part of our long-standing aim to help to rebalance a sector which, as Tony points out, has traditionally been dominated by older IFAs.
“The average age of an IFA is still in the high 50s, and we want to break that cycle.
“Our belief is that promoting and developing younger people will provide clients with a pathway for their wealth to be managed throughout the decades of their life as well as into the next generation.”
The Elevation Academy program, founded in 2013, has trained and developed graduates and non-graduates, which has also linked into the Government Apprenticeship programme.
“Our industry’s gone through a massive revolution in the past nine years,” said Tony.
“The Wealth Management sector is now seen as the next profession to rank alongside law, accountancy and surveying, and so the people coming through today are talented and from a broad range of backgrounds.
“As we take on younger clients too, they’re speaking more of a common language.”
Elevation is also helping the wider IFA industry. Many retiring IFAs sell to us because they want to make sure that their clients’ financial planning needs are cared for, after they retire.
“Clients like to know who will be looking after their money. We find they get a lot of comfort in knowing that their IFA is looking after their own succession issue.” said Tony.
Elevation has offices in Birmingham, London and Nottingham. It is one of the fastest growing privately owned IFA groups in all three areas.