Schroders has ceded full control of its Personal Wealth joint venture to Lloyds Banking Group, marking the conclusion of a six-year alliance between the two financial heavyweights.
The FTSE 100 asset manager confirmed in a statement on 9 October that it has transferred its 49.9% stake in Schroders Personal Wealth (SPW) to Lloyds, which now takes complete ownership of the wealth and financial advice business.
In return, Schroders will regain Lloyds’ 19.1% holding in Cazenove Capital, the wealth management arm it originally acquired when the joint venture was created in 2019.
Both firms have also renewed their long-term commercial partnership, aimed at broadening their respective wealth management offerings in complementary ways, Schroders said.
Launched in 2019, SPW was designed to tap into the UK’s growing mass affluent market by combining Lloyds’ extensive customer reach with Schroders’ investment expertise. At the time, senior executives pledged that SPW would rank among the UK’s top three financial planning businesses within five years.
However, the venture struggled to break into the upper tier of the UK’s wealth management sector. By the end of 2024, SPW’s assets under management stood at £15.7bn — up just 20% from the £13bn it held at inception.
Earlier this week, Financial News reported that SPW’s headcount had fallen by nearly 10% in 2024 as the business sought to rein in costs and recover from a year of losses.
Under the new multi-year agreement, Schroders will continue to manage and grow assets on behalf of SPW clients, as well as oversee the Scottish Widows mandates for Lloyds.
