Edinburgh financial advisory firm bolsters Highlands presence with wealth management takeover

A fast-expanding Edinburgh firm of financial advisers has acquired the wealth management arm of Inverness-headquartered legal firm Macleod & MacCallum.

Macleod & MacCallum Wealth Management will become part of Tweed Wealth Management, consolidating the latter’s position as the dominant financial advisory force in the Highlands. As part of the deal, the legal firm’s directors will take on a minority stake in capital-headquartered Tweed Wealth Management. Financial details surrounding the deal have not been disclosed.

The move comes two years on from Tweed’s acquisition of Inverness-based John Home Wealth Management with half of the business’ client-facing team now working from the city. Total assets under management across the entire business now exceeds £435 million.

Alison Welsh, co-founder and managing director with Tweed Wealth Management, said: “This deal is a big step forward for the business. It takes us to six client-facing advisers working from Inverness alone - but through our growth plans we believe we can get that up to at least 14 within the next three years. Macleod & MacCallum is a prized brand in this part of the world and for more than 50 years has served as a trusted partner to thousands of families in the Highlands and Islands.

“We are excited to grow its wealth management arm and believe that its clients new and old, irrespective of financial background, will benefit from using the service. The market in this region is incredibly entrepreneurial and has a buoyant economy so we believe there is still a lot of untapped potential.”

Peter Mason, joint managing director with Macleod and MacCallum, said the deal would serve as another opportunity to highlight the firm’s financial advisory services for its existing legal and property clients. He added: “Our ethos has always been to be able to help our clients at every stage of life, and to be able to offer our services to each generation of a family. One of the attractive aspects of the Tweed team is that they shared our vision, and it was really important for us to have a partner with the reputation and track record of Tweed, and that we know will offer them a service second to none.”

Clients of Macleod & MacCallum Wealth Management will continue to be served by the Inverness team, with additional administrative and back-office support provided by the Tweed team based in Edinburgh.

The deal marks Tweed Wealth Management’s fifth acquisition in recent years, following on from its deals to secure John Home Wealth Management, Melville Wealth Management, Stevenson-Hamilton Wealth Management and Jamieson Wealth Management.

Chris Tweed, Alison Welsh and Peter Mason welcoming the agreement. Picture: Alison White Photography

Chris Tweed, co-founder of Tweed Wealth Management, said: “We are one of the only chartered firms working in Inverness and our focus is to deliver unrivalled service and expertise for everyone. The potential to expand is truly exciting and I look forward to forming a formidable partnership with the wider Macleod & MacCallum team.”

Tweed, who set up the practice with wife Alison in 2014, said the aim was to create a “forward-thinking” financial advice practice that supports families and business clients as well as providing a wealth of opportunity for people to “achieve great things”.