GWM Financial Planning has rebranded to Skybound Wealth Management following completion of its acquisition by parent company Skybound Capital in April this year.
Former well-known names in the international financial services industry, co-chief executives John Hasberry and David Howell, and managing director Gavin Pluck had left the GWM business over a year ago, in March 2020.
This coincided with Suzerain Investment Holdings, a private equity vehicle managed by global wealth management business Skybound Capital which had invested in GWM back in 2015, becoming a controlling shareholder of 90% of the firm.
GWM Financial Planning, the UK-based advisory arm of the GWM business, has provided advice to both UK based clients and international workers repatriating assets back to the UK since 1994.
Skybound Wealth Management CEO Lyon Botha said: "After completing the successful rebrand of our international arm back in January, we are delighted to have now obtained control of the UK entity and be able to welcome them into the broader Skybound group.
"Although to label the process a rebrand doesn't tell the whole story. The last 18 months has seen significant upgrades to both the client and employee proposition across the wider Skybound Wealth group, with a strong emphasis on adding services and solutions that will allow us to achieve our long-term goal of becoming the adviser of choice for international investors. We are excited to now implement these changes to the UK entity."
Managing director Fiona Neill said: "As someone who has lived overseas before returning to the UK in 2018, I have experienced for myself the complexities of repatriating assets back home. And having honed our bespoke repatriation service over a number of years, Skybound UK is perfectly placed to assist returning expats."
In addition to a client book of repatriated investors, Skybound said it also provided advice on UK focused products such as ISA's, income protection and pension planning.
Botha added: "With many international workers hastily changing their plans following the COVID-19 pandemic, we anticipate an increase in demand for repatriation advice. Having the processes in place for a number of years will allow us to meet this increase with relative ease. We also have exciting plans to increase our presence domestically with the addition of new services such as mortgages and a sizeable marketing budget to facilitate our growth strategy."
