A better path to value creation through M&A

The investment and wealth management sector is going through substantial change. The sector has an oversupply of market participants that are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver sustained organic earnings growth. This has driven market appetite for achieving better scale and improved capability through inorganic routes.

Yet time and again the opportunity to create something new and better through M&A descends into unanticipated crises, unplanned costs and huge management distraction.

To understand a better path to value creation, we interviewed a range of UK and US investment and wealth managers (COOs, CFOs, Integration Directors and Corporate Development), and drew on our own post-merger integration experts across strategy, human capital, operations and technology.

In this paper we explore the six common areas of concern that should be top of mind in all investment and wealth manager M&A projects and provide a path to getting each one right:

• setting strategic direction
• working towards cultural fit
• systematising integration management
• securing the talent base
• planning for technology integration
• setting realistic synergy targets.