Six advisers. £4.9m revenue. One opportunity.
A strategic assessment of the adviser team acquisition opportunity, prepared for the MPA board.
Revenue Opportunity
Advisers
Est. Net Contribution
Breakeven Retention
Why this matters
Six experienced, relationship-driven financial advisers are actively seeking a new home after their firm was acquired. They bring nearly £5m in annual revenue, entirely on AJ Bell, with strong client books and a clear ask: they want to advise, not administrate.
This is not a speculative acquisition. These are advisers who have already expressed interest. The revenue is real, the clients are loyal, and the gap between what they need and what MPA can provide is small.
If we execute this well, it transforms MPA’s trajectory. Group turnover moves from c.£5.4m to over £10m. FUM pushes toward £1.7bn. Adviser headcount rises to 26. And it happens years ahead of the five-year plan.
It stacks up under every scenario
The financial case is strong even under pessimistic assumptions. The validation threshold mechanism means zero variable pay exposure in the early months.
Individual adviser revenue
Adviser A: £1.1m · Adviser B: £900k · Adviser C: £750k · Adviser D: £750k · Adviser E: £750k · Adviser F: £650k. Advisers A-C are unrestricted. D-F are subject to potential non-compete clauses.
Why the early months work
Variable pay (20% above £200k) does not trigger until each adviser has individually billed £200k. With three unrestricted advisers billing from Month 1, MPA receives approximately £187,500/month in revenue against £68,750 in costs. That is £118,750/month surplus with zero variable pay.
The restricted advisers (D, E, F) don’t start billing until Month 7 and don’t hit their validation threshold until Months 10-11. The variable pay ramp is gradual, not sudden.
Breakeven
The deal breaks even at just 45% client retention. That means MPA would need to lose over 55% of the revenue before this becomes loss-making. Given that industry data shows 86-90%+ retention for well-executed transitions, and these advisers have incredibly strong client relationships on a single platform, 45% is an implausibly bad scenario.
The downside is well-contained. The upside is transformative.
Eyes open
This is not without risk. Here are the critical issues and how we address each one.
Infrastructure & investment
Total annual support cost: £525,000 across 10 new hires plus office, tech, and licences.
- ✓ 5 Client Services Administrators (£30-40k each) – high calibre, handling business processing, review prep, client liaison
- ✓ 2 Paraplanners (£40-50k each) – experienced enough to produce suitability reports with minimal supervision
- ✓ 1 Adviser Manager (£100k) – critical for integration, performance management, and cultural alignment
- ✓ 1 Compliance Officer (£40k) – additional capacity for file reviews, observations, and monitoring
- ✓ 1 Financial Controller (3 days/week, £30k) – fee reconciliation, adviser remuneration, financial reporting
- ✓ Office, tech, licences, PI uplift (£90k) – IO configuration, AJ Bell integration, onboarding infrastructure
Against a base case net contribution of £2.2m per year, this £525k infrastructure investment pays for itself more than four times over.
Why this is more than just revenue
- ✓ Accelerates the £10m revenue target by years, not months
- ✓ Pushes FUM toward £1.7bn, transforming MPA’s market position
- ✓ 26 advisers puts MPA firmly in Top 100 IFA territory
- ✓ Scale justifies continued investment in Saturn AI, Orbits, and Llumor
- ✓ Employed model provides clean governance and full compliance oversight
- ✓ Strengthens MPA’s position in any future M&A conversations
- ✓ Opportunities like this – six relationship-driven advisers with £4.9m revenue actively seeking a home – do not come around often
This is the single biggest growth opportunity MPA has had. The numbers work, the risk is manageable, and the timing is right.
What I need from you
I have prepared a full strategic assessment document covering the detailed financials, month-by-month cashflow, individual adviser breakdown, legal analysis, fee structure options, and operational plan. The link is below.
Before we go further, I need your steer on the following:
- ✓ In-principle approval to pursue the opportunity, subject to legal review of restrictive covenants
- ✓ Authorise £5-10k for employment law advice on the non-compete restrictions
- ✓ Agree the comp structure (£100k base + 20% above £200k validation + 5% pension) as a basis for negotiation
- ✓ Green light to arrange the meeting at Henley-in-Arden – late afternoon followed by dinner CONFIRMED – 12th May
- ✓ Confirm fee approach – retain their fixed fee basis for current clients where practical
- ✓ Approve recruitment planning for 10 support roles (£435k annual cost)
Read the full assessment
The complete document covers everything – individual adviser P&Ls, month-by-month cashflow, Quilter case law on non-competes, fee structure options, operational readiness, retention evidence, and the full risk register.