Suffolk Life has bought European Pensions Management (EPM), the Sipp provider that entered insolvency proceedings earlier this summer.
The deal includes 5,000 Sipps with a value of around £630m.The acquisition takes Suffolk Life over 30,000 self-invested plans with assets under administration approaching £10bn.
EPM formally entered into special administration regime insolvency proceedings on 21 June this year. At that time the FCA said some individuals could have recourse to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), ‘depending on their individual circumstances’, in the event that a buyer was not found and they suffered a financial shortfall. However, the acquisition means all customer assets have been preserved.
Suffolk Life is part of the Curtis Banks Group.
Suffolk Life managing director Will Self says: “This acquisition, coming shortly after Suffolk Life joined the Curtis Banks Group, delivers a statement of the Group’s commitment to grow our position in the independent Sipp market, and demonstrates our capability to support advisers and investors in sections of the market that many other Sipp operators have retreated from.”
“Joining the Curtis Banks Group was important to realise the potential in the Suffolk Life business, and the acquisition of EPM shows how we can support the group’s strategic growth ambitions. It is a good quality book of Sipps, and Suffolk Life remains comfortably capitalised following the acquisition.”