Quilter Stock And 2 UK Wealth Managers Riding Demand For Estate Planning

Rising private school fees in the UK, which are running about 1% above inflation each year, are quietly reshaping how families think about wealth, gifting and long term planning. That pressure on household budgets is feeding fresh interest in advice on portfolios, tax and inheritance. This article explores how that story links to wealth and estate-planning services and examines 3 stocks that are directly exposed to this trend.

The stocks highlighted below are just a starting sample from this theme, and the full screen surfaced 16 more UK wealth and estate-planning financial services companies with similarly interesting narratives that are not covered here. To go deeper into this idea, identify patterns across the sector and analyze potential fits for your own watchlist, head straight into the UK Wealth & Estate-Planning Financial Services screener.

Close Brothers Group (LSE:CBG)

Overview: Close Brothers Group is a UK merchant banking group that lends to small businesses and individuals, with specialist operations in areas like asset finance, motor finance and property development funding. It also offers savings products and niche services such as invoice financing, insurance premium finance and securities trading through its Winterflood unit.

Operations: Close Brothers Group generates most of its £584.7 million segmental revenue from Banking, with around £302.9 million from Commercial, £201.8 million from Retail and £88 million from Property, all in the UK.

Market Cap: £639 million

Investors looking at how rising private school fees are reshaping family finances may find Close Brothers Group worth a closer look. The company focuses on secured and specialist lending to UK households and SMEs, which can align with the need for structured financing, wealth planning and tax efficient solutions. Independent analysis points to a wide gap between the current share price and estimated fair value, while the sale of its asset management arm and a push on cost savings and technology are intended to sharpen its focus on core lending. Set against this are risks from the ongoing FCA review of historical motor finance commissions and a relatively high level of bad loans, which makes the potential recovery story more complex and potentially more interesting for investors who do additional research.

Close Brothers Group’s potential valuation gap is only half the story. Get the DCF valuation analysis for Close Brothers Group and see how the motor finance review, bad loans and core lending focus could reshape the upside and the risk profile.

Build your own valuation and risk shortlist

Close Brothers Group and the other two stocks in this theme all came out of a single Simply Wall St screener, but the real value for you is in tailoring the filters yourself. Use our flexible Screener to blend valuation, balance sheet and risk checks around your own rules, or tap into any of our curated Investing Ideas for ready made starting points.

Quilter (LSE:QLT)

Overview: Quilter is an advice led wealth manager that helps affluent and high net worth clients in the UK and overseas with investment management, financial planning and pension solutions through its High Net Worth and Affluent divisions, using its own investment platform, funds and nationwide adviser network.

Operations: Quilter generates most of its revenue from the Affluent segment at about £11.7b, alongside £247m from High Net Worth, with smaller contributions from Head Office and consolidation adjustments.

Market Cap: £2.6b

Rising UK private school fees and more complex tax rules are pushing families to seek help on how to invest lump sums, structure gifting and plan for inheritance, which sits directly within Quilter’s target market. The company focuses on advice led investment and retirement solutions, has recently turned profitable and is returning cash through buybacks and dividends. However, revenue forecasts, regulatory levies and reliance on external funding mean the picture is more balanced. If you are interested in how higher education costs, intergenerational wealth transfer and changing pension rules can feed into long term fee based revenues for Quilter, the full story is worth a closer look.

Quilter’s turn to profitability and steady cash returns can look like only half the picture. See how that advice-led model, regulatory costs and funding reliance fit together in the analysis report for Quilter

Rathbones Group (LSE:RAT)

Overview: Rathbones Group is a long established UK wealth and asset manager that looks after money for individuals, families, charities and advisers, combining discretionary investment management with wider services such as tax, trust and estate planning, court of protection support and specialist ethical and sustainable portfolios.

Operations: Rathbones Group generates about £875.5 million of revenue from Wealth Management and £86.2 million from Asset Management, with almost all revenue coming from the UK at £934.9 million and £26.8 million from the Channel Islands.

Market Cap: £1.74b

Rathbones Group sits in the slipstream of rising UK private education and inheritance planning costs, as more families look for long term help with fees, gifting and multi decade retirement plans. The integration of Investec Wealth & Investment, growing focus on advice led services and ESG offerings, and dividend payments near 5.8% give it potential appeal for investors who prefer exposure to affluent and HNW clients rather than mass market trading platforms. However, revenue headwinds, reliance on external funding instead of deposits and pressures on margins, including from the decision to stop charging fees on cash, mean the story involves risks as well as opportunities. That mix of quality, income and structural questions makes Rathbones a stock that some investors may wish to examine more closely for this theme.

Rathbones Group’s mix of wealth management scale, ESG offerings and near 5.8% dividend yield could be masking a deeper shift in the business model. The analysis report for Rathbones Group hints at what that might mean next.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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