Rathbones were hit by £36.5mn worth of acquisition and integration costs as a result of the Investec Wealth & Investment merger.
According to the Rathbones' preliminary results for 2023, the costs incurred from the Investec deal were made up of £21.3mn of one-off legal and professional costs, £6.2mn relating to awards made to key employees of the business and £9mn in integration costs.
In April 2023, Rathbones announced it had purchased the entire share capital of Investec W&I creating a £100bn UK-based discretionary wealth manager.
Total funds under management and administration reached £105.3bn at 31 December 2023, which included £42.2bn from Investec W&I.
Underlying profit before tax increased 30.9 per cent to £127.1mn, including £25.4mn from Investec W&I.
However, profit before tax had reduced by 10.1 per cent to £57.6bn which Rathbones said was a result of the acquisition and integration costs detailed above.
The investment management firm confirmed Investec clients would be fully migrated onto its platform by early 2025.
Financial planning growth
According to the results, the group together with Investec W&I, Rathbones Financial Planning and Saunderson House - which it purchased in 2021- now has 117 financial planners delivering a range of advice services.
During 2023, Saunderson House and Rathbones Financial Planning advisers introduced more than 150 new clients to the group bringing assets of more than £200mn.
Rathbones said it plans to bring Investec’s financial planning business together with Rathbones’ so that all businesses can operate off of one platform.
It also anticipates further adviser recruitment this year for Vision Independent Financial Planning, the firm’s independent specialist financial advice network.
The third-party adviser market continues to be an “important channel” for Rathbones with more than 340 IFA firms using its 'Reliance on Adviser' model, according to the investment manager.
Paul Stockton, group chief executive, called 2023 a “transformational” year for Rathbones as a result of the Investec deal.
He said: “We remain resilient and well positioned to withstand some of the challenging investment market conditions we saw this year and our 2023 results reflect this.
“Our priority has always been to provide the reassurance and support that our clients expect over such periods, and as ever, they will remain a key consideration in everything that we do.”
alina.khan@ft.com
