Acquisitive North East wealth management group Fairstone has snapped up two independent North East firms: Sunderland-based Grainger Financial Planning and Morpeth's Riverstone Wealth Management. The deals follow partnerships beginning in 2024 under Fairstone's downstream buy-out model, which provides investment support and integration before full acquisition.
Details of the Acquisitions
Grainger Financial Planning serves nearly 400 clients with £120m in client assets under management. The firm has provided financial planning and wealth management services for over 15 years. Riverstone Wealth Management, founded in 2009, advises more than 65 clients with £63m in assets under management.
Quotes from Firm Principals
Paul Clough, firm principal at Grainger Financial Planning alongside Mike McGurrell, said: “We’re really pleased to be joining Fairstone – as a company based in Sunderland, like ourselves, it genuinely feels like we’re coming home. Joining Fairstone gives us the opportunity to grow the business while maintaining our commitment to providing trusted, independent financial advice. The additional support we’ve received on things like regulatory and compliance matters has freed up more of our time to spend with clients and seen the range of services we can offer widen.”
Mark Wiseman, founder and firm principal at Riverstone alongside brother Ian Wiseman, said: "Working with the Fairstone team over the past two years has been great and we’re looking forward to a really bright future. One of the big benefits which we have found is the ability to grow our client base by using the resources, experience and expertise which Fairstone offers us. We are already providing an increasing number of people with trusted, independent financial advice and I’m confident that this will continue now that we are part of Fairstone."
Fairstone's Growth and Regional Commitment
Fairstone describes itself as one of the fastest-growing financial services organisations in the UK and Ireland. It employs more than 1,350 people serving over 60,000 wealth clients with client assets under management of more than £22bn.
Steve Easter, managing director for Fairstone’s Northern region, said: "It is fantastic to be able to welcome Paul, Ian, Mark and the Grainger and Riverstone teams to Fairstone. The acquisition of both firms demonstrates our commitment to further growth in our North-East heartland and to bringing on board ambitious, growing financial advice and wealth management firms. With our group headquarters in Sunderland, we know from first hand that this region is home to a thriving community of entrepreneurs, business owners and families who are creating and preserving significant wealth, and who value the kind of long-term, trusted relationships that sit at the heart of good financial advice. In acquiring Grainger and Riverstone, we’re bringing on board firms which share those values, strengthening our ability to support clients across the region and helping them to build their financial futures with confidence."
