European Wealth believes it has a good platform for more acquisitions following a strong performance in the first half.

The AIM-listed wealth firm, which recently sealed a deal for Surrey-based adviser business Compass, said assets under management rose by 24% to £0.8 billion in the first half.

It attributed the growth to strengthening of its European Investment Management team and the recruitment of experienced asset managers. It was also helped by continued growth in its financial planning business, European Financial Planning, through the development of its personal pension capability.

The acquisition of Compass was European Wealth’s fifth in four years and its first since its admission to AIM in May.

With markets approaching historic highs the group warned the second half is unlikely to show the same level of organic revenue growth. It also said it remains on the lookout for acquisition opportunities.

Chairman John Morton (pictured) told the market: ‘The last six months have been a period of continued expansion for the group. The completion of the AIM admission in May was a major milestone for the group. This brought immediate benefits with the Compass acquisition and associated fund raising following less than two months later.

Such a transaction would have been far harder to execute under our previous ownership structure and underlines our strategy of combining organic growth with targeted acquisitions.
 
He added: ‘We continue to review further organic growth and targeted acquisition opportunities that have the ability to widen our geographic reach, broaden our scope of services and access important new client niches in the second half of the year.’