Shackleton
Shackleton is a national Independent Financial Advisory and wealth management business.
Sector
Financial services and insurance
Status
Realised
Investment Date
2021 - 2025
Location
UK
Buy & Build
19
Investment background
Shackleton's story begins in 1990 when Richard Skerritt established Skerritts from his home office. In the decades that followed, the firm built a strong reputation for exceptional service quality, experiencing consistent growth and success.
After completing eight strategic acquisitions and establishing a solid market presence, the management team sought an investment partner to accelerate their expansion plans in the UK's highly fragmented financial advice sector.
Their choice was Sovereign.
The growth story
Supported rebrand to ShackletonExpanded geographic presence through 21 acquisitions since our investmentFormer Quilter CEO Paul Feeney named new CEO to succeed founder Richard Skerritts as he became a Non-Executive Director.Andrew Fisher was appointed Non-Executive Chair. Andrew was previously CEO of Coutts & Co and CEO of Towry Group.Significant investment in the Group’s technology capabilitiesSince supporting the MBO in 2021, we partnered with the management team on an ambitious Buy & Build programme, aiming to consolidate the highly fragmented IFA and wealth management sector and position the business as Britain’s financial adviser of choice.
During the four years of our invesment, we reviewed approximately 400 acquisition opportunities to complete 19 bolt-on transactions, significantly expanding the business from its South East roots into a truly national group. The business expanded its service offering, launching Wealth Builder, a digital wealth management solution for lower AUM clients, and entering Court of Protection services for individuals with life-changing injuries or illnesses.
In 2023, founder Richard Skerritts decided to step away from the day-to-day running of the business, and we facilitated the recruitment of his successor as CEO, Paul Feeney, the former CEO of FTSE 250 wealth manager, Quilter. During our investment we have also supported the appointments of Andrew Fisher as Chair, formerly CEO of Coutts & Co and Towry Group, and Grant Hotson as CFO, previously CFO of The Openwork Partnership and Commercial Finance Director at abrdn asset management.
The December 2024 rebrand from Skerritts to Shackleton marked the unification of the business as a single, nationwide financial advice firm, and it now delivers trusted financial guidance through a consistent investment approach and transparent fee structure, unified by shared identity, values, and culture.
In November 2025, Shackleton was acquired by Lee Equity Partners.
Sovereign has been a transformative partner for Shackleton. I never once doubted that we always had their support, especially through difficult markets. That support extended way beyond capital, to market insights, investment in people and technology and the build-out of our market leading client-centric proposition. Thanks to their unwavering commitment to building long term value, we are now ready for the next exciting chapter of our story, to realise our vision of becoming Britain's Financial Adviser.
