JLT acquires Alexander Forbes Consultants

The £17m deal is one of a string of acquistions by the cash-rich JLT and is its largest deal since the purchase of HSBC Actuaries & Consultants in 2009.

It brings 350 staff into the JLT employee benefits arm, most of whom are based in Alexander Forbes’ London and Croydon offices.

Around 80 per cent of Alexander Forbes’ £27.8m revenue in the last year came from defined contribution, annuity and employee benefits advice, with 20 per cent coming from defined benefit schemes.

Duncan Howorth chief executive of JLT, said: “Client needs in the future will be different from the past and only a resourceful firm has got the ability to invest in technology can meet that need. Clients are going to want more in the way of investment advice, for which you need scale and depth.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Butcher, managing director of Pitmans Trustees, said: “JLT [and Capita] are hoovering up a lot of these older, smaller consultancy businesses. Their model is to make them more efficient and to achieve economy of scale.

“It’s a symptom of the change in our marketplace. The old businesses that relied on DB skills and hourly time-charge models are dinosaurs that will soon become extinct.”