Independent Wealth Management Consulting · UK

Clarity in
a complex
transaction.

Senior independent expertise for transaction advisory, Consumer Duty assurance and advice proposition design — engaged for the problem, not the payroll.

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The Proposition

Senior capability.
Without permanent overhead.

Consolidators, PE-backed advice groups and acquisitive IFA firms regularly need senior wealth-management judgement for a defined period — evaluating a target, standing up independent QA, or resourcing technical work no one in-house has the bandwidth for. That work rarely justifies a permanent hire, and deserves better than a generic contractor.

"Someone who has bought, sold and integrated advice businesses, bringing that judgement to a scoped, time-limited engagement."

Problems This Solves

Situations
this is built for.

Ref. 01 — Acquisition

Acquiring an IFA practice?

Independent review of client-bank quality, advice risk, recurring revenue and integration complexity — before capital commits.

Ref. 02 — Succession

Thinking about succession or a sale?

Independent sale-readiness review to identify client-bank, compliance, operational and integration issues before a buyer does — helping protect value and reduce deal friction.

Ref. 03 — Assurance

Consumer Duty evidence not telling you enough?

Independent challenge of files, outcomes monitoring and remediation priorities, reported directly to the accountable function.

Ref. 04 — Proposition

Advice proposition due a rebuild?

Independent redesign of service tiers, fee structure and client process — including where AI can practically reduce delivery cost, without adding headcount.

What I Offer

Independent expertise.
Precisely scoped.

Three areas where senior independent judgement can add capacity, challenge or transaction confidence without creating permanent overhead.

01 · Lead Offer

Transaction Advisory & Integration

Buy-side diligence · sell-side readiness · integration planning

Independent transaction support for buyers and sellers of wealth-management businesses — from sale preparation and client-bank readiness through acquisition diligence, practice-risk assessment, deal evaluation, post-transaction integration and AI-enabled operating efficiency opportunities.

02 · Independent Challenge

Consumer Duty & QA

File review · outcomes monitoring

Independent file review and outcomes monitoring, scoped against the firm's own framework, with findings reported directly and without conflict to the accountable function.

03 · Design & Delivery

Advice Proposition & Process Design

Proposition · service tiers · fee structure

Independent design or redesign of a firm's advice proposition — service tiers, fee structure, client agreements and delivery process — including where AI can practically reduce delivery cost and adviser time.

How Engagements Work

Scoped, fixed-fee.
Deliberately time-limited.

Step One

Scoping call

A conversation to establish the problem, the timeframe and what a useful outcome looks like.

Step Two

Fixed-fee proposal

A written scope and fixed price wherever the work allows it — priced on outcome, not hours logged.

Step Three

Engagement

Diagnostic, project or retainer, run to the agreed scope with direct reporting throughout.

Day rates are available on request for extended technical assignments, but the default is fixed-fee — the value here is the outcome, not a number of days billed.

Background

Craig Chapman

Twenty years in wealth management, with practical transaction experience on both sides of the table — founding, building and selling an advice business, followed by a senior leadership role within the acquiring group with direct involvement in further acquisitions and integration, and more recently as Managing Director of a Glasgow-based firm.

That combination — practitioner, founder, and senior leadership — is the vantage point this consultancy works from: someone who has sat on both sides of a transaction, not a generalist reviewer.

CFP™ Certified Financial Planner
FCSI Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment
CWM Chartered Wealth Manager
20+
Years in wealth management
4
Advice-business transactions directly experienced
3
Chartered designations

Who This Is For

For firms facing a problem
that needs senior judgement.

Consolidators & acquisitive wealth groups

PE-backed advice businesses

Networks & support services

Compliance consultancies

Corporate finance & M&A advisers

Firms redesigning their advice proposition or fee model

A scoped problem.
A senior perspective.

Engagements are confidential and typically begin with a short scoping call.

craig@craigchapman.uk

Regulatory Position

This is a consultancy service and does not constitute regulated financial advice. Engagements are scoped to sit outside personal recommendation and the arranging of investment transactions. Where work touches an individual client case, the contracting authorised firm's compliance function determines how the engagement sits within its own permissions and governance — and written scope confirmation is required before any such assignment begins.

Nothing on this page should be read as an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity.