Canada’s Canaccord Genuity gobbles up Hargreave Hale in £80m deal

Canaccord Genuity has bought the UK wealth manager Hargreave Hale in a deal worth up to £80 million to form a new top ten UK wealth manager by AuM, writes Rachel Parker

Vancouver-headquartered Canaccord Genuity Group has acquired UK wealth manager Hargreave Hale through its UK and European wealth management unit, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, to form a combined entity with some £23 billion in AuM.

Dan Daviau, chief executive of the Canadian parent Canaccord Genuity Group, says the merger is an ‘important step in our strategy of building a leading independent global wealth management business’. The move substantially advances Canaccord Genuity’s ambition of developing a leading fund and wealth management business. The acquisition of Hargreave Hale, which has nine offices around Britain, now makes Canaccord Genuity one of the ten largest wealth managers in the UK.

Both firms have previously featured in the Spear’s 500 Private Wealth guide and annual Spear’s wealth managers’ indices, where noted wealth managers include Stephen Massey, Paul Derrien and Neil Jones.

Dating back to 1897, Hargreave Hale has an AuM of £8 billion and has established a reputation as one of the UK’s leading independent investment and wealth management businesses, providing discretionary investment management and stockbroking services to more than 14,000 private clients, intermediaries, corporations and charities. The modern business was created in 1988 when its chairman Giles Hargreave merged his company, Hargreave Investment Management, with the family stockbroking business, Marsden W Hargreave Hale & Co.

Hargreave and the wider management will remain with the enlarged entity and are committed to growing this business within Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. ‘With its similar business model, shared culture and common values, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management in the UK represents the ideal partner to continue the successful growth and development of our business,’ says Hargreave. ‘Along with our senior management team, I look forward to working with our new colleagues as we continue to deliver excellent investment and wealth management services for our clients.’