Advisory

Acquisition outfit Bellpenny has completed its 30th deal to date with the purchase of Croydon-based Trustee Asset Management (TAM).

Consolidator AFH Financial has acquired two more advisory firms, bringing its total acquisitions in the last year to twelve.

Business is booming for advisers, according to a poll that signals increasing profitability and confidence in the sector two years after the rule change doomsayers said would herald its demise.

Sanlam UK made £10m from the sale of its stake in advice network Intrinsic to Old Mutual Wealth.

Debt-laden network Sesame has been given access to a £45m bailout fund by its parents Aviva and Friends Life.

Former Old Mutual bond manager Stewart Cowley has launched a new venture providing investment advice and portfolio management to advisers and fund groups.

Brown Shipley has acquired financial planning business Hampton Dean for an undisclosed amount.

Hargreaves Lansdown has agreed to acquire £370m of assets from J.P. Morgan Asset Management for an undisclosed amount, as the latter ceases to offer certain direct investments to individual clients.

Walker Crips is planning for further expansion by seeking out employees at rival firms who are "disenchanted" by industry merger and acquisition activity.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has defended the methods it uses to calculate advisers' contribution to its annual costs as fair and proportionate, as it confirmed a 10% hike for firms for 2015-2016.