NatWest’s £2.7bn Evelyn Partners buy shakes up UK wealth banking — and investors flinch

London, February 9, 2026, 08:15 (GMT)

• NatWest agreed to buy UK wealth manager Evelyn Partners for £2.7 billion and announced a £750 million share buyback.
• The deal would lift NatWest’s total assets under management and administration to about £127 billion, combining Evelyn with NatWest’s private bank and wealth arm.
• NatWest shares fell about 4% in early London trading after the announcement.

NatWest Group said it will buy UK wealth manager Evelyn Partners for £2.7 billion, including debt, and launch a £750 million share buyback, pushing deeper into fee-based financial advice as lenders brace for softer interest income. 1

The move matters now because UK banks are hunting steadier income as rate cuts squeeze net interest margins — the spread banks earn between what they charge borrowers and pay savers. Wealth management brings recurring fees and is typically less capital-hungry than traditional lending.

The Financial Times reported over the weekend that NatWest was nearing a takeover of Evelyn, underlining how fast the big banks have turned to deals to bulk up wealth arms and lock in richer customers. 2

Evelyn oversees about £69 billion of assets under management and administration and includes Bestinvest, a direct-to-consumer investing platform. Combined with NatWest’s existing private banking and wealth business — which includes Coutts — the group would have about £127 billion under management and administration.

“We can help customers to make more of their money through a broader range of services,” chief executive Paul Thwaite said in a statement. 3

NatWest said it expects around £100 million in annual cost savings and will fund the purchase from existing resources. The bank said the deal would cut its CET1 ratio — a key measure of capital strength — by about 130 basis points and is expected to close in the summer of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

NatWest shares fell about 4% in early London trading after the announcement, according to market updates from the Evening Standard. 4

The acquisition pits NatWest more directly against peers such as HSBC and Lloyds, which have been expanding wealth offerings to cushion earnings as rates fall. Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Canada had all shown interest in Evelyn during the sale process, Reuters reported. “Although we consider this to be a bolt on transaction, it would be transformational, filling the gap NWG has in its affluent wealth offering,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Benjamin Toms wrote. 5

Evelyn’s owners framed the sale as a bet on scale winning in UK wealth. “Today’s agreement with NatWest is a strong endorsement of the quality of the platform,” said Chris Pell, a managing director at Permira, while Warburg Pincus managing director Peter Deming called NatWest “an exceptionally strong long-term home”. 6

But the deal still needs regulatory clearance and the hardest part may come later: holding on to advisers and clients through an integration. A market sell-off would also pressure fee income at the same time NatWest takes a hit to capital, testing the logic of paying up for growth.