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Contents
- What challenges are Wealth Managers facing?
- Should I focus solely on liquidity events?
- Founders on track to exit
- Shareholders + Directors
What challenges are Wealth Managers facing?
- More competition
- Smaller pool of prospective HNW clients
- Fast evolving market with limited visibility
- You probably end up finding the same people
- A large proportion of the people you do find already have an advisor
- It’s hard to plan around your existing network
- Limited time
Should I focus solely on liquidity events?
Yes and No.
Taking 2 examples – Oxford Nanopore Technology, and Shortridge.
Oxford Nanopore are a VC backed genomics spinout from Oxford University, founded in 2025.
They achieved an IPO for £3.38B market capitalisation in 2021.
Whereas, Shortridge never had equity funding, nor a major grant. They’re a family owned laundry business, founded in 1845.
In 2024 they were acquired for £24.1M.
Across the two examples, you can already notice the difference in funding history, age and maturity of the company, sector they operate in, ownership structure, and place of origin too.
Yet both achieved a successful exit event, so targeting purely on these factors can be misleading.
Following liquidity events can be helpful to help you spot these companies post-event, but every other wealth management firm will be doing the same thing.
Below are some thoughts on how you can spot these companies and the key people behind them.
Founders on track to exit
Here are some ways you can find business owners on track to an exit:
Previous Funding Rounds
Look at the frequency, value and valuation of these fundraisings
- Are they on a growth trajectory?
- Are they in close proximity to an exit event?
- eg. VC or PE funding 5+ years ago
- eg. VC or PE funding 5+ years ago
- It’s worth noting 70% of this funding never appears in the press
- Get there early, ahead of competition!
Profile of Shareholders
Look at those approaching retirement age
- Likely thinking about succession planning!
Age diversity on the board
- Find founders with younger family members on the board – maybe thinking about an MBO/MBI?
91,635 people in the UK, aged 60+ have a board position at companies with £1m+ cash in bank
- Get there early + Tailor your messaging!
Historic MBO/MBI activity
Buy-in or buy-out activity in the last 5–10 years
- Likely to have an evolving exit strategy
Financial growth and increased profitability since MBO/MBI
- Likely realising their exit strategy and approaching exit horizon
1,157 UK companies underwent a MBO/MBI 5–10 years ago + have shown signs of significant growth
- Get there early + Tailor your messaging!
Other pre-transactional exit signals
- C-Suite appointments – adding wisdom, or experience of previous exit events
- Accelerator attendance – joining an accelerator designed to best position companies for exit
- Exponential growth in headcount and/or revenue – big growth makes a company attractive
- Balance sheet – are they trying to show off to potential buyers?
Shareholders + Directors
Focusing on shareholders and directors can help you isolate people with silent wealth.
Angel Investors
- 23,991 – people with £1m + equity shareholdings in private companies
- Of these, 11,273 are non-founders (47%)
- Here’s an example search – Angel Investors, with £1M+ to their name, where at least one of their shares is 20%+
Directors
- Across the UK, there are over 7,196 companies paying £1m + in annual director emoluments
- Last year these 7,196 paid £54Bn to 35,000 directors
- Here’s an example search – Companies paying over £500K in director emoluments.
Stats accurate as of June 2024
👋Get in touch with the team
For any more information on the above terms, or if you have any questions, please speak to your Support team – their contact details will be found in the Help tab on your account.