The chief executive of IFG Group has said the company is willing to invest in its advice arm - Saunderson House - if it is not sold.
Speaking after the company published its results for 2017, John Cotter said IFG Group had received a number of approaches for Saunderson House which it is currently working through.
He said: "You don't want an open-ended process. We are working through these approaches at the moment and I think we will have a view in a reasonably short timeframe as to what theses approaches are and whether it makes sense to pursue or not.
"If we can get an appropriate value and it makes sense for Saunderson House then we would undertake a sale and if it doesn't then we would continue as we are doing.
"Over the last four years we have grown the assets under advice from £3bn to £5bn. It has grown over the last three to four years from a small, niche player to something that has much more capacity to expand into other markets.
"If we don't sell we will be looking at how we continue that growth."
IFG Group posted a loss before tax of £400,000 for 2017, compared to a profit of £6.4m for the previous year.
This swing into the red was brought about by £8.8m of costs to address legacy problems related to "the administration and documentation of advice", of which £1.6m was related to Saunderson House.
This £1.6m provision was made to address legacy issues relating to advice given to a "small number of clients" surrounding a "particular set of complex circumstances" in connection with defined benefit transfers.
Meanwhile Alastair Conway, the chief executive of James Hay, said that over the coming year the self-invested personal pension provider would be investing in its Isa and GIA functions.
He said: "We have set a high benchmark with our Sipp and we want to make sure the Isa and GIA are as easy to use as that is.
"It all comes back to the way people have changed and the way people deploy their money. There are limitations about how much you can put into your pension and we want to make sure people can do that through James Hay."
Last year James Hay overhauled its fee structure, which saw charges increase, and Mr Conway said 2017 was the most successful year for new business in the company's history.
damian.fantato@ft.com
