AFH Financial Group has acquired the Herefordshire-based independent financial advisory firm, Robert Magee & Associates. The deal is AFH’s third acquisition in this month alone.

London-listed AFH Financial Group has acquired the Herefordshire-based independent financial advisory firm, Robert Magee & Associates. The deal is AFH’s third acquisition in this month alone and a sign of how regulatory changes are driving consolidation and change in this part of the wealth management sector.

Robert Magee is an IFA based in Leominster in England’s Western region, and manages approximately £27 million ($43.6 million) of funds for around 550 clients. AFH will not be taking on additional staff following the acquisition, while Robert Magee himself, is leaving the industry.

The maximum consideration for the acquisition is £486,000, which will be paid out in an initial £204,000, followed by further cash consideration of up to £282,000 depending on the performance of Robert Magee in the 26 months following completion.

The deal marks the firm’s eighteenth acquisition since it listed on ISDX in June 2011 and its fifth since the Retail Distribution Review programme of reforms was implemented on 1 January 2013. In November alone, AFH’s has acquired three IFA’s, including AG Financial Planning and Origin Financial. Since the RDR’s implementation, it has become increasingly expensive for independent advisors to service their clients, resulting in an onslaught of mergers and acquisitions across the industry in recent months. 

AFH’s ongoing UK expansion is largely fuelled by a recent fundraising which provided the firm with £2.8 million in funds that it would use to “finance potential future acquisitions”, a statement said.

A spokesperson could not confirm whether AFH will be conducting any further deals this year, however, “significant funds still remain to further the expansion”, she told this publication.