UK IFA M&A market remains on course for a high volume in 2025
April delivered one of the most active months in recent history, with a range of transactions spanning large-scale acquisitions, regional expansion, and capability-led investments.
The UK IFA sector continues to evolve as firms respond to demographic pressures, regulatory demands, and the imperative for operational efficiency with an impressive volume and diversity of deals. Notably, Perspective Financial Group has completed a further nine acquisitions in the year to date.
The completed transactions reflect a market maturing beyond simple AUM-driven deals, favouring firms that offer scalability, strong compliance credentials, and strategic regional access.
According to a recent IFA report from Heligan Group, April highlighted the resilience of mid-market acquirers, many of which are deploying sophisticated acquisition strategies. Several transactions – including Söderberg & Partners’ partial equity stake in Active Financial Planners and Corbel Partners’ succession-focused buyouts – illustrated the increasing variety in deal structuring. Minority stakes, network consolidations, and regional bolt-ons are all becoming part of the consolidator’s toolkit.
Greg Easter, partner at Heligan Group, commented, “As anticipated, private equity-backed platforms remain dominant players, underpinning the most aggressive expansion efforts. These firms are continuing to compete fiercely for high-quality targets.
“April reaffirmed a geographic trend that was developing over the last year, particularly the concentration of activity in the North East, London, and the South. These areas continue to attract buyer interest due to client demographics, adviser density, and the commercial viability of hybrid service models.”
Perspective Financial Group continued to stand out from the crowd, reinforcing its position as one of the UK’s leading IFA consolidators, completing a further nine acquisitions in the year to date. These deals bring the group’s total to 116 acquisitions, adding approximately £900m in assets under advice (AUA), more than 2,100 client households, and four new office locations across the South and East of England.
The group’s continued pace of acquisitions highlights broader structural trends in the UK IFA market, particularly the increasing regulatory burden on smaller firms and the growing attractiveness of exit options that provide succession planning and back-office relief.
Easter continued, “Despite the volume of activity, acquirers are showing greater selectivity in both pricing and post-deal integration planning. Deal multiples remain elevated, but the narrative is shifting toward long-term value creation. The focus is increasingly on fit, efficiency, and the ability to support regulatory and technological change across growing networks.
“Looking ahead, the UK IFA sector’s performance in April suggests that 2025 is likely to remain a high-volume year but with a clear shift toward strategic, synergistic acquisitions as opposed to opportunistic roll-ups. For sellers, this means demonstrating not just profitability, but alignment with acquirer platforms’ infrastructure, culture, and long-term goals,” concluded Easter.