Raft of hires underway as soon to be merged Tilney Bestinvest business plans to double face to face advice

With the impending completion of the merger of Bestinvest and Tilney, which is subject to regulatory approval, a major recruitment drive is underway to double the combined group's financial planning team in new and existing locations across the UK, with the first phase aiming to make 25 new hires in the next six months. The move follows the announcement in February that Tilney is to be merged with Bestinvest to create a leading standalone wealth manager – Tilney Bestinvest - with £9.2bn of assets under management or administration.

In a two staged process, the firm is seeking to hire qualified, experienced, financial planners to grow its teams in existing Tilney and Bestinvest offices across the UK including London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester, building on the recruitment of six wealth managers already hired into Bestinvest’s existing regional offices in the first half of 2014. Additionally, the group is targeting opportunities to put financial planners on the ground in several new locations including Aberdeen, Cambridge and Maidstone, subject to finding the right calibre of professionals.

In addition to recruiting financial planners, the firm will look to hire five paraplanners to support advisers across the country including Newcastle and Leeds. Seven administrative wealth management support roles will also be sought.

Richard Dawes, joint Managing Director of Wealth Management at Bestinvest said: “The upcoming merger with Tilney will bring increased financial planning scale and the new hires will allow us to fully support this growth. Where we do not currently have a presence we will forge one and where we do have a presence we are building upon it, allowing more clients than ever access quality face to face advice in their area.

“We have already seen strong growth in our financial planning business both before and after the introduction of RDR. The withdrawal of some of the high street banks from the advice market combined with the revolution in pension choice announced in the last Budget creates real opportunity for us that we are determined to seize. We are therefore looking for high quality people who share our commitment to great client service and are excited about the prospect of working for what will be one of the UK's leading standalone investment and financial planning groups.”

The combined Tilney Bestinvest business will employ 400 employees. On a pro forma basis the business will manage or administer £9.2 billion of asset split 63% discretionary, 17% advisory and 20% execution only.

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Please find a photograph of Richard Dawes, joint Managing Director of Wealth Management at Bestinvest, attached.

About Bestinvest:

Founded in 1986, Bestinvest has grown to become a leading private client investment adviser, looking after £5 billion of assets. We offer a range of investment services from the Online Investment Service for self-directed investors to Investment Advisory and Investment Management services for clients who do not have the time or inclination to manage their own investments.

All of our services are underpinned by rigorous research aimed at identifying those fund managers we believe will deliver long-term superior performance. We also have a team of expert financial planners with nationwide coverage to help clients with their pensions, retirement or Inheritance Tax planning. At Bestinvest, we pride ourselves on offering the highest levels of professionalism and expertise with transparent, competitive prices. We are pleased that our greatest source of new business is from personal referrals from existing clients.

Bestinvest has won numerous awards including Stockbroker of the Year, Low-Cost Sipp Provider of the Year and Self-Select ISA Provider of the Year at The Investors Chronicle and Financial Times Investment Awards 2013. Bestinvest also won UK Wealth Manager of the Year 2013 and Best Wealth Manager for Investments at The Investors Chronicle and the Financial Times Wealth Management Awards 2013.

Headquartered in Mayfair, London, Bestinvest employs more than 200 staff and has an extensive network of regional offices. For further information, please visit: www.bestinvest.co.uk