Baigrie Davies takes Stan Life’s 1825 to £3bn assets

Standard Life’s financial planning business 1825 said it will establish a London regional office by buying Baigrie Davies, its third acquisition in the last three weeks.

Baigrie Davies has assets under advice of around £400 million.

The deal follows recent agreements by 1825 to acquire Almary Green in East Anglia and Munro Partnership in Scotland.

Baigrie Davies will form 1825’s London regional office, with 30 employees, including 11 financial planners and 5 paraplanners.

When the three acquisitions are complete, Standard Life will have 70 financial planners advising 9,400 clients on £3 billion of their assets.

Baigrie Davies has a financial planning business serving private individuals and their families and a corporate services business serving employers and their workforces.

Ian Howe, Baigrie Davies’ managing director, will continue to run the business and will be responsible for 1825’s London office. He will also join the 1825 Executive Committee.

Founder Arthur Davies will remain with the business, but co-founder Tom Baigrie will leave to concentrate on his other business LifeSearch, a protection broker.

Howe said: “Becoming part of 1825 is the natural next phase in the evolution of our business.

“We’ve taken Baigrie Davies to a point where we feel more resource is needed to continue to grow the business and provide the best possible proposition and service to our clients.

“Being able to tap into the scale and resources of 1825 is such a compelling opportunity for our team and our clients.

“Crucially, the 1825 client proposition maintains our total focus on financial planning and improving client outcomes with integrity and in a transparent manner.”

Steve Murray, 1825 CEO, said: “Baigrie Davies is a high quality firm with a team of talented, professional and dedicated individuals.

“Being one of the early adopters of Standard Life’s Wrap platform, we have a long-standing relationship with Baigrie Davies.

“As a CISI Accredited Planning business, they are extremely well respected within the profession.

“Establishing a further presence in London is important to our ambition of building a financial planning business of significant scale so we’re delighted to welcome the Baigrie Davies team to 1825.”