Approximately 15,000 former clients of collapsed Beaufort Securities are to be acquired by The Share Centre.
The UK retail stockbroker said it was looking to “act as the catalyst for rebuilding their trust in the retail broking industry”.
The 15,000 clients have been on a roller-coaster.
Beaufort went into special administration in March and, this week, a former Beaufort manager pleaded guilty in the US to money laundering.
It is expected that the transfer to The Share Centre will begin by the end of September and the new accounts will start to see activity in the fourth quarter of this year.
Administrators PwC are simultaneously writing to customers with further information on next steps.
Rebuilding trust with Beaufort Securities clients
Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Stone, chief executive of The Share Centre, said: “We are especially pleased to welcome, in a few weeks’ time, customers of Beaufort Securities, who have endured a very difficult period since the collapse of the business.
“It is pleasing to have been selected to provide these customers with a secure home and service for their investments and we look forward to building our relationship with them, and rebuilding their trust in our industry, over the months ahead.
“Unlike Beaufort Securities, The Share Centre is a pure execution-only stockbroker which provides substantial resources and guidance on our website to help personal investors but fundamentally our customers make their own investment decisions.”
Established in 1990, The Share Centre serves 300,000 customers with over £5bn ($6.45bn, €5.5bn) of assets. It provides two services – custody and trading.
Why The Share Centre is different
“Where we fundamentally differ from Beaufort Securities is that we do not act as a corporate broker or trade as a principal on our own account,” continued Stone.
“Indeed, we strongly believe that the roles of agent (acting solely on the customer’s behalf as we do) and that of principal (trading on your own corporate positions) should not be combined within the same business.”
The Beaufort clients will join books of business acquired from Invesco and Janus Henderson and “distressed” books from Wills & Co and JPJ Share.
