Fintech platform with 500 Scottish staff unveils acquisition of fast-growing investment platform

Third Financial is one of the fastest growing investment platform and software providers in the UK.

Richard Rowney, chief executive of Nucleus. Picture: Lucy Young/Times Media Limited

Nucleus Financial Platforms, the fintech business created following James Hay Partnership’s 2021 takeover of Edinburgh-based Nucleus Financial, has snapped up investment platform Third Financial.

The deal will give Nucleus some 50 clients in the UK with £6 billion of assets under administration plus a further £40bn of assets administered via Third Financial’s software system, Tercero. Nucleus Financial Platforms is already one of the UK’s largest adviser platform groups with more than £80bn of assets under administration from 250,000 customers.

Nucleus, which has about 500 staff in Scotland out of a group headcount close to 1,000, said the Third Financial business had delivered strong organic growth in recent years, with revenue increasing by more than 30 per cent in 2023. The value and terms surrounding the acquisition have not been disclosed. Upon completion, the group’s own platform assets under administration will total around £90bn.

Ian Partington, group chief executive of London-based Third Financial, said: “A crucial factor in the decision to join Nucleus is that we feel very culturally aligned. Now with our combined expertise and resource we can deliver even more to existing and future clients both in terms of products and service.”

Richard Rowney, chief executive of Nucleus, said: “By combining our scale, expertise and relationships, with their innovative technology, we’ll be able to offer a broader proposition to serve the needs of wealth managers and advisory businesses across the sector. We’ve long admired the team that Ian has built at Third Financial and what they’ve achieved. Their focus on innovation and client centricity has clearly differentiated their business, establishing them as one of the leading investment platform providers, and they will be a great addition to our group.”

In August 2021, James Hay Partnership acquired Edinburgh-founded fintech Nucleus Financial in a £145 million deal and combined both businesses.

Nucleus pointed to recent research showing that an increasing number of larger advisory groups were looking to establish their own platform as a way of increasing revenue, reducing risk and improving operational efficiency. It said the deal with Third Financial was “fully aligned” with the group’s strategic ambition of building scale and capability through organic growth and “compelling acquisition opportunities”.