Brian Swanson is a specialist in M&A, scaling and succession strategy for the Independent Financial Adviser and wealth management sector, working with founders and leadership teams across the UK, Europe and internationally. He runs his own financial services M&A business and holds consulting and part-ownership positions across several additional IFA firms. Alongside his own practice, he works with BlackRock advising founders of IFA firms in the UK and Europe on scaling and succession planning giving him an unusual combination of practitioner, principal, and institutional-adviser perspective on the current consolidation cycle.

His work focuses on helping IFA founders and leadership teams translate market conditions into exit value: readiness audits, succession planning, structural preparation and deal-room execution. Brian speaks and writes regularly on the UK and European advice markets and their consolidation dynamics, and the frameworks he shares in this session are drawn from deals and engagements he has been directly involved in rather than industry commentary alone.