Lift builds on Balfour acquisition with Cartwright deal

Lift-Financial is building on its acquisition of Balfour Wealth Management with another deal lined up for Cartwright Employee Benefits.

The New Model Adviser^® cover star firm bagged Edinburgh-based Balfour for an undisclosed sum. Balfour’s 10 advisers will become appointed representatives of Lift-Advice, which was launched at the start of March, and will become the IFA’s restricted advice arm in 2012.

Cartwright Employee Benefits, based in Godalming, also became appointed representatives of Lift-Financial last month, and could help the Manchester-based group break into the corporate pensions market.

Lift-Financial chief executive Michael Holden (pictured) said Balfour would initially focus on packaged products then become a restricted advice arm of the group after the retail distribution review (RDR) deadline.

Holden hoped some of the Lift-Advice advisers would copy Balfour managing director John Brown in pushing to join Lift-Financial and gain chartered financial planner status.

‘There will clearly be huge opportunities in the restricted advice space and Lift-Advice is the vehicle that will allow us to service clients in that market,’ said Holden. ‘With many advisers looking for assistance with their RDR strategy, the experience we already have of gearing a business to be RDR-ready will be invaluable to them and we will use that experience to help advisers who work under the Lift-Advice brand.’

Holden said consumers would still require face-to-face advice despite hype about online execution-only services; and Barclays’ decision to close its adviser arm meant there was a growing gap which Lift-Advice could fill.

Holden declined to comment on Cartwright Employee Benefits, which provides actuarial, administration and consulting services to around 150 small and medium-sized pension schemes with between 50 and 1,000 members.

Along with Lift-Advice and Cartwright, Lift-Financial has a third appointed representative, Lift-Sport, which works with professional athletes, and was established in December 2009.