Wealthspire's Ground Control buys Atlantic Swiss, a London 'family CFO' for entertainers and athletes

On 20 October 2026, Wealthspire announced that Ground Control Business Management, its division serving the entertainment and sports market, had acquired Atlantic Swiss, a London-based private wealth manager. According to Wealthspire’s own release, distributed by Business Wire and carried by City AM, Atlantic Swiss had more than $1 billion (£800 million) in assets under management and administration as of 30 December 2025. No price was disclosed.

The firm being bought

Atlantic Swiss works mainly with clients in the UK and Western Europe, many of them in film, television, sport, music and fashion. It describes its approach as “family CFO”, meaning financial planning and investment management handled together for clients whose income and obligations are tied to their careers. The UK business trades as Atlantic Swiss Private Clients, a trading style of ASFC LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Craig Bell, the founder, stays on as president and will lead a team of more than 20 staff, eight of them advisers. He will work with Nick Parkinson, president of Ground Control’s UK division, which already has offices in London and the Midlands, as WealthManagement.com reports. Bell said in the release that the two firms had worked together for years before the deal. Berkshire Global Advisors acted as exclusive adviser to Wealthspire.

The buyer

Wealthspire is a US wealth management, institutional advisory and business management group with operations in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. WealthManagement.com notes that it was acquired by the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners last year, and that in March it launched a dedicated family office division which started with 300 client families and $50 billion in assets. The Atlantic Swiss deal also feeds a Sports & Entertainment practice that Wealthspire launched earlier this month.

The purchase follows other US-headquartered advisers buying in Europe. WealthManagement.com cites Creative Planning’s acquisition of Baseline Wealth Management in Geneva and Zurich earlier this year, and Corient’s purchase of two UK-based wealth managers, covered in the Journal at the time of the Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital deal.

What it means for families and their advisers

Atlantic Swiss is small by the standards of these deals. Alongside the large UK multi-family offices, US consolidators are now buying boutiques that serve one kind of client, in this case people whose wealth comes from careers in sport and entertainment. Clients of such firms usually choose them for the founder and the team, so the questions worth asking after a sale are practical ones: whether the FCA-regulated entity and custody arrangements change, how long the founder is committed to stay, and what a private equity owner’s exit horizon means for the firm a few years out. The announcement does not address the last two.

Sources: Wealthspire release via Business Wire, carried by City AM (20 October 2026); WealthManagement.com (20 October 2026).