Dyer Baade advises Apiary Capital on its investment in Radiant Financial Group

Apiary Capital backs Radiant Financial Group to build a national UK wealth management platform

(London, November 2020) Dyer Baade & Company acted as lead buy-side adviser to Apiary Capital on its investment in Radiant Financial Group, a newly launched UK wealth management and financial planning platform created to pursue an ambitious organic and acquisition-led growth strategy.

Apiary Capital acquired a majority interest in the business and provided capital to support Radiant’s development as a national financial advisory group.

Radiant was launched on the foundations of CWB, PPS and ReSource Mortgages, with the acquisition of CWB forming a cornerstone of the new group. At launch, the combined business had approximately 20 financial advisers and £800 million of assets under management.

The group was led by an experienced management team including Peter Mann, former CEO of Skandia and Vice-Chairman of Old Mutual, as Chairman, and Simon Cogman-Hellier as CEO.

The investment was designed to create a differentiated platform in a highly fragmented UK financial advice market. Radiant’s strategy combined organic growth with targeted acquisitions of high-quality advisory businesses, supported by investment in technology, central infrastructure and an increasingly broad range of wealth management services.

Simon Cogman-Hellier, CEO of Radiant Financial Group, said that the group was focused on building a fully integrated business around a shared culture and a high-quality, holistic client proposition, with Apiary providing a strong partner for that ambition.

Stuart Dyer, Chairman of Dyer Baade & Company and lead adviser to Apiary Capital on the transaction, said: “We were delighted to advise Apiary on the investment in Radiant Financial Group. The UK financial advice market offered a compelling opportunity to build a high-quality national platform in a sector characterised by strong recurring revenues, attractive long-term fundamentals and significant fragmentation. What differentiated the opportunity was the combination of an experienced management team, an established initial group of businesses and an investor with both the capital and ambition to support a long-term buy-and-build strategy. Radiant had the foundations to become a significant participant in the continuing consolidation of UK wealth management.”

Building a scalable wealth management platform

The investment represented a clear example of institutional private capital backing a purpose-built platform to pursue consolidation in the fragmented UK financial advice market.

Dyer Baade & Company advised Apiary throughout the transaction, including sector analysis, strategic assessment of the opportunity, transaction structuring, commercial analysis, valuation and negotiations through to completion.

The mandate drew on Dyer Baade’s detailed knowledge of the UK wealth management sector and its experience assessing the strategic and financial characteristics required to build scalable acquisition platforms.

Since Apiary’s original investment, Radiant has continued to execute its buy-and-build strategy through a series of acquisitions across the UK. Apiary currently reports approximately £1.9 billion of assets under advice across 13 offices, compared with approximately £800 million at the time of the original investment.