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Isio Group has signed an agreement to take over K3 Advisory, a specialist insurance and risk settlement consultancy, subject to FCA regulatory approval.
Isio, said the acquisition will enhance its risk settlement capabilities. K3 was founded by Adam Davis in 2018 and has established itself as an expert in transactions for small to medium schemes, helped by Davis’ background leading buyouts at MetLife and KPMG.
Isio was also part of KPMG until it was bought out in 2020 by about 20 partners, backed by private equity firm Exponent. In July this year, Exponent agreed to sell its stake to Aquiline Capital, with Aquiline targeting acquisitions for Isio to build additional service lines.
Isio will maintain the K3 brand, saying the specialist firm has completed almost 100 transactions worth nearly £2bn of assets in the past six years. K3 recently advised on Royal London's first external buy-in with York Retreat, as well as on a £12m full buy-in of the Charities Aid Foundation scheme and a £24m buy-in for a building materials firm. K3 has particular expertise helping small and very small schemes achieve risk settlement; in 2023, one of its deals was for £600,000.
Isio partner Steve Robinson said: “This acquisition is an important part of our strategy to accelerate our growth in an area of the market where we see pension scheme demand increasing and where we already have a strong presence. Bringing the K3 team into the Isio Group will give us greater scale and depth of expertise, especially in small to medium sized transactions, where there is significant demand.”
Davis said as part of Isio, K3 will be able to offer a wider range of services and skills to clients.
“The market is thriving as so many pension funds have found themselves in strong funding positions, seeking to secure the benefits of their members. We are looking forward to working with the team at Isio to do even more to support schemes in this critical phase, making endgame a real possibility,” he said.
Isio has made other acquisitions since being spun out. In 2021, it bought administrator Premier Pensions Management, before taking over Deloitte UK’s pensions business last year.
Mergers and acquisitions have become a regular feature of the pensions landscape as the sector is becoming more commercial. Consultancies, trustee firms and master trusts are vying for market share and looking to expand into adjacent lines. In June, Marsh McLennan said its subsidiary Mercer has agreed to buy Cardano, including Cardano’s master trust Now Pensions. Trustee firm Independent Governance Group acquired communications agency Like Minds in 2023, having itself been created through a merger that year.
