Britannia Financial Group has purchased £900m of assets and cash held in client accounts from Dolfin Financial which was recently placed into special administration.
In an announcement today (July 13), Britannia said the purchase would be undertaken through its brokerage house Britannia Global Markets.
Along with the client assets, approximately 20 members of staff will transfer across from the discretionary investment management team.
Wealth manager Dolfin was first forced to cease regulated activities in March, after the regulator imposed restrictions on the company.
In a statement issued on its website at the time, the Financial Conduct Authority said it had “identified a number of serious concerns around the way that Dolfin operates its business".
However, earlier this month (July), it was announced that Dolfin Financial had fallen into administration and Adam Stephens and Kevin Ley of Smith and Williamson were appointed joint special administrators.
Stephens and Ley said they agreed terms for certain of the independent wealth management firm’s client agreements to be transferred to Britannia Global Markets Limited.
Approximately 280 of Dolfin's clients are scheduled to transfer to Britannia and clients are being notified individually about the transfer.
A note by the joint special administrators said at the date of the special administration appointment, Dolfin employed circa 30 staff and had circa 500 clients.
Stephens said: “Since our appointment as joint special administrators we have been working to finalise the terms of a transfer of certain client agreements as quickly as possible to a new provider.
“The deal agreed with Britannia provides continuity for certain clients, as Dolfin’s relationship managers will transfer to Britannia along with the relevant clients’ accounts.”
Britannia said the Dolfin clients transferring will benefit from access to a broader execution team with knowledge across all equity, fixed income, futures and options and foreign exchange markets.
It said Dolfin’s fixed income execution team will widen the broader Britannia offering.
Daniel J Reiser, director and board member of Britannia Financial Group, said: “This is a step change in Britannia’s growth story, both in terms of expanding our assets under management and our rapidly growing financial services team.
“It is a demonstration of our ability to identify and execute opportunities to grow our already prominent presence in the London market, providing a new home to these clients and preserving the positions of the 20 strong team joining us.”
He added: “I would like to welcome our new clients and colleagues to Britannia. They will play an integral part in our mission of providing contemporary financial services underpinned by the traditional banking values of quality service and knowledge of our clients.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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