Broadstone Group, one of the UK’s leading employee benefits and pensions consulting businesses, has acquired PwC’s private client and treasury investment consulting team as it continues to grow its investment consulting practice.

Raymond James is opening a new branch in the heart of Cheshire. Launching under the name Raymond James, Chowley, it will be led by co-founders Audrey McKinstry and John Simpson.

Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (UBP) and Danske Bank A/S have entered into an agreement whereby Union Bancaire Privée (Europe) SA will acquire Danske Bank’s wealth management business in Luxembourg, operating through Danske Bank International SA (DBI). The transaction, which is an asset deal, is subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory bodies and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021. 

Nedgroup Trust in the Channel Islands has achieved reaccreditation as a STEP Platinum Employer Partner for the sixth year running.  

A new independent survey of 735 UK investors has shown that many will become far more active in their investment plans once ‘freedom day’ arrives. 

BlueVoyant, a cybersecurity services company, has acquired Marclay Associates, a UK-based cybersecurity consultancy that provides world-class incident response and cyber investigation services for global organisations, helping to protect them against increasingly sophisticated threat adversaries and cyber risk vectors. Supporting this acquisition, BlueVoyant will receive USD30 million in funding from existing investors, helping to stimulate further business growth across the region.

ESG concerns dominated fund launches this week. Carbon offsetting specifically was a key theme, with BNP Paribas listing the BNP Paribas Easy Low Carbon 300 World PAC UCITS ETF, a thematic listed index fund offering savers an investment solution to reduce the carbon footprint of their portfolio, and Purpose Investment and HANetf launching Europe’s first carbon offset ETF on the LSE. HANetf also debuted new renewable energies and aviation thematic ETFs on Xetra, focusing on 50 companies worldwide that supply products for decentralised renewable power generation. IndexIQ launched a new ESG Core Plus Bond ETF in partnership with MacKay Shields, and iShares listed new sustainability-focused ETFs on Xetra, tracking the performance of medium-sized and large companies from the USA selected on the basis of standardised ESG exclusion filters. The first ESG-focused Gold Mining ETF is to launch on the LSE, allowing investors to access the gold mining sector in a responsible way. Finally, moving away from sustainable investing, 21Shares listed the Solana ETP on SIX Exchange, offering additional yield through staking rewards by validating transactions on the Solana blockchain.

A CoreData Research study of 500 UK retail investors conducted in March and April found 40 per cent of Millennial respondents would add cryptocurrencies to their pension given the opportunity to do so. 

According to a new report released by Cult Wines, a specialist in fine wine investment and collection management, fine wine returns display remarkable stability compared to a range of other asset classes during market downturns – including the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Independent Wealth Planners (IWP), a nationwide group of independent financial advisers, has strengthened its senior management team with two new appointments.