7iM

7IM provides wealth management, asset management and platform services to UK-based retail investors, primarily through independent financial advisors. At the core of its model is a multi-asset investment management function that aims to produce predictable, low-volatility, low-cost returns using both active and passive strategies.

Background

7iM was founded in 2001 by CEO Tom Sheridan and six other investment managers who wanted to start the kind of organisation they’d like to invest with themselves. When Caledonia acquired the business in September 2015, 7iM had assets under management (AuM) of £9.5 billion. Caledonia’s investment thesis was to drive AuM and revenues by taking advantage of the structural tailwinds underpinning the long term growth of the UK wealth market. This would involve developing the direct to consumer and institutional channels while investing in 7iM’s award-winning platform technology.

Investment thesis

Caledonia worked closely with the founding partners to manage an orderly transition to a new management team, which led to the appointment of Dean Proctor as CEO in April 2019 and Adrian Grace as Non-executive Chair in 2020. The group has completed several add-on acquisitions to date, the largest of which have been:

• TCAM (September 2018), which added significant scale to 7iM’s private client wealth management services;
• Partners Wealth Management (September 2020), which extended the group’s financial advice and planning capabilities; and
• Amicus Wealth (December 2023), building further scale in financial planning and advice.

7iM has grown into a vertically integrated wealth management business offering Funds and Models, Platform Services, Discretionary Private Clients and Independent Financial Advice & Planning, with AuM exceeding £20 billion.

7iM was sold to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board in January 2024, generating a net IRR of 14.8% and 2.3x money for Caledonia.