Schroders sells financial planning arm as it accelerates high net-worth shift
Schroders has agreed to sell its advice business Benchmark Capital to Swedish wealth firm Soderberg & Partners as it accelerates a shift toward wealth management and high net-worth clients.
Under the terms of the deal, Schroders will become a long-term asset manager to Soderberg & Partners and exit direct ownership of the financial planning business.
Soderberg two companies did not disclose the value of the deal.
Soderberg has acquired a number of minority stakes in advice firms and launched its own in-house platform called Seccl since entering the UK market in 2023. It has £108bn in assets under advice, making it one of Europe’s largest wealth managers.
Benchmark runs three advice networks, Best Practice IFA, Oculus Wealth Management and Evolution Wealth, and has its own investment platform, Fusion Wealth.
Benchmark chief executive, Ed Dymott, wrote on Linkedin: “I firmly believe this transaction provides Benchmark with the ownership structure and backing to support our next phase of growth.
“Söderberg & Partners are committing to invest significantly in the UK, and are committed to bringing the best adviser solutions, the best technology and the best service to be the leading wealth business.
“There is a focus on continuity, and whilst we will want to make future changes, there is little we will see change in the near term.”
The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the year, subject to FCA approval.
Fenchurch and White & Case acted as advisers to Söderberg & Partners on the deal, while Perella Weinberg Partners and Slaughter and May advised Schroders.
Schroders shift
Dymott added that the sale will allow Schroders to to turn its “focus on its core activities”, with the asset manager also exiting its joint advice venture with Lloyds at the end of last year amd selling its stake in Schroders Personal Wealth.
The sale of Benchmark completes its exit from the UK advice market, but it has retained its wealth management presence through Cazenove Capital. Chief executive Richard Oldfield has vowed to keep the business following Schroder’s £9.9bn takeover by US fund manager Nuveen.
Schroders agreed to a takeover by Nuveen in February, ending over two centuries of independence, with the deal set to create one of the world’s largest active asset managers.
Schroder’s sale of Benchmark is also the latest in a string of both British and European asset managers being subject to deals from foreign buyers, with total deal value rocketing from $5.1bn (£3.8bn) in 2024 to $47.9bn in 2025.