Corbel Partners completes acquisition of Wealth Design Holdings

• Corbel Partners is an established network that assists financial advisers with a wide range of services from compliance support and paraplanning, to full business support and technical training
• The business was looking to grow its network and to modernise its onboarding and advisory technology facilities
• Shawbrook provided Corbel with the funding for the technology investment and to support the acquisition of Wealth Design Holdings, a Midlands-based advisory practice

Initially starting as a traditional IFA practice, Corbel Partners was founded in 2004 by co-founders and directors David O’Hara and Paul Heath.

Since its inception, the business has significantly expanded its capabilities – initially growing its advisory practice, before diversifying to offer a range of support services. Under its advisory arm, appointed representatives of Corbel currently service over 15,000 clients with assets under management (AuM) in excess of £2bn. Its support services assist advisers with anything from compliance support and paraplanning, to full business support and technical training. With many smaller advisory practices wanting to retain a boutique appeal, but often concerned about effectively handling compliance, Corbel provides a unique service to IFAs by enabling them to provide fully independent advice.

With Corbel seeking to further grow its business through acquisition and technology investment, Shawbrook has provided Corbel with an initial debt facility to support its initial acquisition of Wealth Design Holdings, a Midlands-based advisory practice. The debt facility provided by Shawbrook will also see Corbel invest in new technology to modernise its onboarding and advisory processes for clients. Beyond the initial facility, Shawbrook will provide an additional committed accordion facility to continue to support future acquisitions with another two completing in May.

As an appointed representative of Corbel Partners, Wealth Design has worked closely with Corbel for several years. The acquisition is seen as a natural progression of its business relationship, as Wealth Design’s management team seeks to build an effective succession plan for the business with no client disruption. With many aging advisory practices in similar positions across the country, Corbel is supporting their transition and maintaining client access to independent advice, while helping to future-proof the industry.

Shawbrook would also like to thank Nicola Meritt and Cortus Advisory who provided financial due diligence and supported the client with the building of their model. Gunnercooke and Rowlinsons are also recognised for providing legal counsel to Shawbrook and Corbel respectively.

David O’Hara, Director and Co-Founder, Corbel Partners said:

“From day one, Shawbrook has been fantastic and acted as a natural extension of our team. At Corbel, we have ambitious plans for our future growth and business expansion which the team supported us with extensively – from financial modelling and compliance, to structuring a facility which closely aligned with our ambitions.

“We’ve been incredibly impressed with the work Shawbrook has put in to make this deal happen, who went above and beyond to ensure nothing was left unchecked.”

Daniel Martin, Senior Director at Shawbrook, said:

“Having now supported several financial advice businesses in our time, we were immediately impressed with the potential of Corbel that David and Paul presented to us. There is a significant transition of wealth taking place across the IFA industry, which advisors need significant support to effectively manage. Corbel are uniquely placed to provide this support, and we look forward to further seeing their growth in the years to come.”