Chase de Vere looking to take on more financial advisers in region

Stephen Kavanagh, Chase de Vere’s chief executive, said his advisers were reporting healthy prospects for Yorkshire’s economy, which is encouraging the firm to keep expanding in the region.

The company plans to hire 20 more financial advisers over the coming months, including new advisers in its Leeds office.

In July, Chase de Vere revealed that it had increased profits by 34 per cent to £5.4m in 2015.

The firm, which is backed by Swiss Life, the life assurance company, said it saw opportunities for further growth because the supply of independent financial advisory firms across the UK is dwindling.

Mr Kavanagh told The Yorkshire Post: “Leeds has become the highest producing, most important office in the Northern region, quickly followed by Scotland..

“In terms of financial services, Leeds has always been pretty strong. I have been with the company for coming up to 20 years, and Leeds has always been very good for us.”

Mr Kavanagh said the company had around 16 advisers in Leeds, and it planned to increase this number to 25 over the next 12 to 18 months.

Mr Kavanagh said: “When I speak to the advisers, there seems to be a healthy, strong vibe within Leeds centre and around the Yorkshire economy.

“My advisers are extremely positive about the value of the business here right now, and out into the wider economy.”

“Our advisers are wedded to independence as we are as a company,’’ said Mr Kavanagh.

“We have people approaching us, regional firms, who want to protect their independence. They want a home for their advisers, but more importantly their clients, that’s in an independent firm.”

He said Chase de Vere also had a number of potential acquisitions in the pipeline.

He added: “Our Manchester office is punching below its weight as is our Birmingham office, and the two offers we have on the table right now are from those areas.

“What we pride ourselves on is the level of service we give to the clients, at what we think is a competitive price.

“We want people in this area to come and knock on our door if they want to remain independent and they want to be part of company that is, without question, client-centric.” Mr Kavanagh said Chase de Vere planned to increase its profits as it kept growing.

He said: “We hope to get close to £6.5m to £7m profit this year, which is up from £5.4m last year, and £3.1m the year before.

“I think when we get to 2019, our three-year plan is to be around about £10.5m to £11m profit.

“I would like to get the firm up to £15m profit, over probably the next five years.”

He added: “We want to recruit more top quality advisers in Leeds so that more local people can benefit from independent financial advice.”

Chase de Vere has offices across the UK, including bases in Basingstoke, Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chester, Glasgow, Leicester, London, Manchester and Preston.

Mr Kavanagh began his career in financial services in 1985 with Bank of Scotland, as a private client portfolio manager.

In 1992 he became an independent financial adviser with Allied Irish Bank, and in 1997, he joined Thomson’s Financial Planning, which is now Chase de Vere.

He became Chase de Vere’s chief executive in 2010, after previously serving as national sales director.