The rebrand is official from today, according to Andy Finch, an 11-year veteran of Collins Stewart, and 30-year veteran of the wealth management industry, who heads up sales at CGWM.
As was the case with Collins Stewart Wealth Management, the entity now known as CGWM includes a client-facing UK office, in London, as well as an offshore-focused operation based in Guernsey, where some 108 people oversee centralised corporate functions such as compliance, IT and legal matters.
Client-facing, internationally-focused offices – all of which have now also been re-branded as CGWM – are located in Jersey, the Isle of Man and Geneva, Finch said.
There have been no job losses as a result of the Canaccord Genuity acquisition of Collins Stewart Wealth Management, and in fact the number of people who work for the business has grown by about six, to around 292, since the deal was announced, largely because Canaccord did not previously have a European wealth management operation.
What is more, Finch went on, although the Collins Stewart name is being replaced, the wealth management business that used to carry it “is very much unchanged as far as our clients are concerned” from what it was before Canaccord acquired its parent.
“We gone to great lengths to emphasise this,” he added. “That is why we waited more than 12 months from the completion of the sale to formally re-brand, as we wanted our clients to get used to the new name, and to engage with them individually as part of this process.
“At the same time, though, the rebranding has given us the opportunity to connect with new clients, who may already be familiar with the Canaccord brand”.
Focus on ‘de-risking’
Finch said CGWM’s current focus is on helping advisers to “de-risk” their businesses by offering to take over asset allocation and portfolio construction, where, he noted, many advisers have been running into problems recently.
“At a time when there have been a number of highly-publicised blow-ups in so-called boutique funds, we offer diversification and peace of mind to IFAs and their clients,” he said.
“IFAs who are looking to de-risk their businesses in order to concentrate on what we would describe as ‘holistic wealth planning’ are increasingly outsourcing the investment responsibilities for asset allocation and fund selection to us.”
As reported, Cannacord Financial announced its plan to acquire what at that point was known as Collins Stewart Hawkpoint last December, in a £250m ($390m) deal that had been said to have been under discussion for months.
Last September, Canaccord Financial named Lazard International’s former vice chairman, Alexis de Rosnay to head up the former Collins Stewart Hawkpoint entity that by then was beginning to go by the name Canaccord Genuity. De Rosnay’s hiring as CEO of UK and European operations followed the departure of Mark Brown, who was to remain as a consultant until last month.
