The chairman of Mattioli Woods is to step down at the end of October after five years in the role.
Joanne Lake has served on the board of the firm for nine years including five as chairman.
In the firm's full year results statement out this morning (September 21), Lake said: “I have now served on the board of Mattioli Woods for nine years, including as chairman for the last five years, and this is my last statement before I will step down at our forthcoming AGM on October 29 2021.”
The group said the nominations committee had begun the selection process for a new non-executive chairman.
The announcement came as the group reported a 60 per cent cut in profits before tax in the year to May, at £5.1m, down from £12.7m in 2020.
This was on a 7 per cent revenue hike, to £62.6m from £58.4m last year.
The firm put this down to the re-instatement of staff bonuses, which had increased costs to £3.1m, from £1.3m last year when the company cut bonuses during the pandemic.
Acquisition related costs also increased to £2.6m from £0.3m in the prior year, with deferred considerations amounting to £3.8m, £3m more than in the year prior.
The firm had also seen regulatory costs hiked again. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme levy had resulted in the group's regulatory fees more than doubling to £0.8m for the 2019/20 year, and it grew by a further £500,000 for the 2020/21 year due to rising SIPP and pension advice claims in the wider market.
Mattioli expects these costs to continue to increase over the next few years.
Acquisitions
The group raised £112m between May and June this year through a share issue, in order to allow it to complete a number of acquisitions.
In the year to the end of May it made five acquisitions and continued its acquisitions spree in the months after, with the purchase of Ludlow Wealth Management completing on September 6.
The £43.5m Ludlow acquisition was announced back in May, alongside Mattioli Woods’ plans to purchase Maven Capital Partners.
Ian Mattioli, chief executive of Mattioli Woods, said: "We are confident our focus on addressing the changing needs of our clients, developing the capabilities of the group and continued investment in our governance and infrastructure, will position us well to deliver future growth, sustainable shareholder returns over the long term and a business that is here for the long term".
sally.hickey@ft.com
