NatWest Forms Wealth Giant
NatWest Completes Landmark £2.7 Billion Evelyn Partners Deal, Creates UK's Top Wealth Platform
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Key Points
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Evelyn Partners has shown substantial growth prior to the deal, rising from about £5 billion in client assets in 2014 (when Permira first invested) to £69 billion by 2025, illustrating the scale that NatWest is acquiring.
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Evelyn Partners was formed from the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson, a historical detail shaping the combined firm's private banking and wealth management platform.
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Chris Kenny, who had just become CEO of Evelyn Partners, stepped into the leadership role a month before the acquisition closed, highlighting leadership continuity within Evelyn Partners post-deal.
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Interim results are expected to be provided on July 31, with NatWest indicating they will give fuller guidance on the full-year impact of the deal at that time.
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The acquisition is expected to account for roughly one-fifth of NatWest’s total CAL (customer assets and liabilities) after completion, underscoring the deal’s scale relative to the group’s balance sheet.
NatWest Group completed its £2.7 billion takeover of Evelyn Partners on June 30, 2026, creating the UK's largest private banking and wealth management business Professional Adviser. The deal combines Evelyn's £69 billion in assets with NatWest's existing £59 billion wealth business, producing a combined pot of £127 billion under management Financial Planning Today.
NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite called it a "unique opportunity" that delivers "unmatched scale," adding that the bank is now "the UK's leading Private Banking and Wealth Management business" BusinessCloud. The deal is NatWest's biggest acquisition since its 2008 taxpayer bailout.
From £5bn to £127bn: A Decade of Growth
Evelyn Partners was not always this large. When private equity firm Permira first invested back in 2014, the business held just £5 billion in client assets London Insider. Over the next decade, it swallowed up rivals and merged with Smith & Williamson in 2020 to form today's Evelyn Partners. By 2025, assets had grown to £69 billion — a 13-fold increase.
Permira's Chris Pell said the NatWest deal was a "strong endorsement of the quality of the platform" built during that decade. Both Permira and fellow backer Warburg Pincus have now fully exited the business Professional Adviser.
NatWest Eyes £100m in Savings and 20% Fee Income Rise
NatWest expects to cut £100 million in annual costs by merging back-office operations and sharing technology platforms Financial Planning Today. Getting there will cost about £150 million in one-off charges. The bank also projects fee income to rise by roughly 20% even before any revenue benefits from combining the two businesses.
The total customer assets and liabilities of the merged group now sit at around £188 billion London Insider. That means the Evelyn deal accounts for roughly one-fifth of NatWest's entire balance sheet. NatWest says the deal will boost its return on tangible equity — a key profit measure — from the first year.
New Leadership Steps In as Deal Closes
Chris Kenny became CEO of Evelyn Partners on the exact day the deal closed — June 30 BusinessCloud. He had previously served as the firm's Chief Investment Management Officer. Outgoing CEO Paul Geddes departed after three years leading the firm through its final transformation before the NatWest deal.
Kenny said joining NatWest "strengthens our ability to support clients over the long term, while preserving the personal relationships" they value BusinessCloud. NatWest's Emma Crystal, who will run the combined private banking and wealth unit, described the completion as a "pivotal moment" for bringing financial planning to more customers Financial Planning Today.
Capital Hit and Cultural Risks Loom Over Integration
The deal is not without costs. NatWest's CET1 ratio — a measure of its financial buffer — will fall by around 130 basis points as a result of the £2.7 billion cash payment ADVFN. The purchase price of roughly 15 times EBITDA initially unsettled some investors, though analysts broadly accept the strategic logic of chasing fee income over interest margins.
Industry experts warn the biggest risk is cultural. Ray Soudah of MilleniumAssociates cautioned that NatWest must preserve Evelyn's "entrepreneurial spirit" rather than imposing "top-down procedural bureaucracy." NatWest will give fuller guidance on the deal's full-year impact when it publishes interim results on July 31, 2026 Professional Adviser.
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