Tilney Smith & Williamson reveals new name as AUM hits all time high

Tilney and Smith & Williamson brands will be consolidated under a new name in the summer called Evelyn Partners. 

The choice of a new name, on the back of integration and after detailed research among clients, reflected the fact that the business is now one firm with a single purpose enabling it to offer a broader, integrated offering across the board. 

The new name is rooted in the company's heritage, it said, but is also both timeless and contemporary. 

The rebrand news was part of Tilney Smith & Williamson's financial results statement for the year ended 31 December 2021, which it said achieved strong momentum in new business and both record assets under management and Adjusted EBITDA.

Assets under Management (AUM) increased 12.7% to an all-time high of £57.7bn.

Record gross new business inflows of £6.0bn, representing 11.7% of opening assets, with net new business inflows increasing to £2.5bn (2020: £0.7bn), representing 4.9% of opening assets.

Group operating income increased 83.4% to £560.8m.

Key strategic highlights included: 

• Strong progress with our digital transformation agenda. We have created a new integrated Financial Services platform, tailored to our needs which combines state-of-the-art reporting, execution and settlement solutions with in-house custody. The business successfully migrated the first tranche of clients to the new platform during the course of the year. The Group has also started to implement a new platform for the Professional Services business which will similarly further enhance client experience and improve operational efficiency.
• Post period end the business announced plans for the relaunch of Bestinvest as a hybrid digital service combining best-in-class goal planning and analytical tools with free access to investment coaching from qualified professionals, alongside its execution-only offering. A new suite of highly competitive low-cost ready-made portfolios have also been launched, together with a simplified pricing structure.
• The business continues to explore opportunities to enhance growth through acquisitions and in March 2021 completed the acquisition of wealth management business HFS Milbourne, which added £376 million of assets to the Group in the second quarter of 2021.
• In September 2021 the business launched a succession programme to give financial advisers approaching retirement an opportunity to find a new home for their clients. Two high quality businesses have already joined under the scheme and there is a strong pipeline for 2022.
• Launched our new bold statement of purpose in September: to place the power of good advice into more hands, alongside setting out the core values for the combined Group.

Chris Woodhouse, Group Chief Executive, said:  "2021 was a landmark year for the Group, in which we successfully combined Tilney and Smith & Williamson, while at the same time achieving our best year ever for both organic growth and underlying profitability.

"Our increased scale, combined with strong new business generation across both our Financial Services and Professional Services businesses, has meant that it has also been a significant year in terms of financial performance. We delivered record gross new business inflows of £6 billion - 11.7% of opening assets - and Group operating income of £560.8 million, helping to generate £188.4 million of Adjusted EBITDA, a 14.0% increase over 2020 on a pro forma basis. Our Adjusted EBITDA margin of 33.6% - a key measure of business profitability and efficiency - has increased year-on-year on a like-for-like basis and remains industry leading when compared to peers.

"Delivering excellent client experience is core to our success and during the course of the year we continued to make strategic investments into areas which will enhance and enrich client outcomes. In addition to our focus on hiring new talent, we also made significant progress with our digital transformation agenda. This has included the creation of a leading-edge and scalable financial services platform on to which we have begun successfully migrating clients. We aim to roll-out our App and digital portal to more of our clients during 2022.

"The relaunch of our Bestinvest platform in Q2 2022 will bring a host of new features, combining innovative digital tools with free access to investment coaches who are qualified financial planners. The relaunched Bestinvest will be especially well-positioned to help the many millions of people who are not currently getting the support they need to make their money work harder and achieve their goals. This is us making good on our statement of purpose to place the power of good advice into more hands.

"Notwithstanding current market volatility and the dreadful events unfolding in Ukraine, we have very strong foundations in place for future growth. We have both operational and financial strength and a large and growing pool of talent. We now have an unrivalled service proposition that spans DIY investing, financial planning, investment management and tax advice to help clients manage their personal wealth, alongside an extensive range of professional services for businesses.

"We are therefore uniquely well positioned to support clients with both their personal wealth management needs and business interests. As we become Evelyn Partners this summer, we look forward to a new and exciting chapter, focused on the future as truly one firm."