Financial advisory firm deVere Group has secured the go-ahead from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to acquire WPS Advisory (WPSA).
WPSA, which formerly traded as Priscum Direct, will now become part of UK Workplace Solutions (UK WPS), the UK unit of deVere Group.
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deVere Group founder and CEO said: “We’re understandably thrilled with this development. This latest group acquisition underscores deVere Group’s ongoing commitment to the UK and to investing in financial services firms that truly reflect a changing market, regulatory and legislative landscapes in Britain.
“I personally look forward to helping this forward-thinking, and game-changing company become successful in reaching even more people who are facing tough retirement choices.”
UK WPS was established in January 2015 to bring a fresh approach to retirement advice in the UK.
UK WPS managing director Simon Chrystal said: “Receiving the Approval Notice was the final piece in a jigsaw which will allow us to enhance our position, with WPS Advisory Limited becoming our single brand, as a leading provider of access to high quality, affordable, financial advice – primarily via the workplace.”
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By GlobalDataThe latest deal comes amid a difficult time for deVere UK, which posted a loss of over £1.2m for 2017 compared to a loss of £864,700 in 2016.
The company attributed the loss to costs related to an ongoing FCA probe into its pension transfer activities.
In February last year, deVere UK was issued the section 166 notice by the FCA that involved a skilled person review of the firm’s pension transfer activities.
The advice firm also ceased offering transfer value analysis reports for third party firms to do defined benefit (DB) transfers.
