Sacker & Partners
UK 200 RESULTS 2010
Movement since 2009
Turnover (£M):
Profit per equity partner (£K):
Earnings per partner (£K):
Equity spread (£K):
Net profit (£M):
Profit margin (%):
Revenue per fee-earner (£K):
Revenue per lawyer (£K):
Revenue per partner (£K):
Revenue per equity partner (£K):
Total number of fee-earners:
Total number of qualified lawyers:
Total number of partners:
Total number of equity partners:
Total number of female partners:
Total number of female equity partners:
Total number of staff:
Leverage ratio (fee-earners per equity partner):
UP
23.2
877
599.12
333-1011
12.3
53
483.3
493.6
1,022.0
1,657.1
48
47
23
14
9
5
93
2.36
Pensions boutique Sacker & Partners, which reports on a calendar-year basis, had a return to form in 2009 after a stagnant 2008.
Turnover rose by 10.5 per cent to £23.2m, while net profit rose by 10 per cent to £12.3m, representing a profit margin of 53 per cent, the highest of the UK 100.
The firm’s average profit per equity partner rose by 9 per cent, from £806,000 to £877,000, beating its previous high of £874,000 in 2006.
Sackers operates a modified lockstep, with partners in theory taking six years to reach plateau with a maximum of 360 equity points. The entry point is variable depending on overall firm profitability. Performance is reviewed at two and four years, at which points partners’ lockstep positions can be frozen. In 2009 those on the bottom of the equity took home £333,000, while plateau partners received £1.01m.
Sackers’ performance benefited in part from picking up around 12 new clients thanks to the pensions departments in larger firms being forced to give up their pension scheme trustee clients at the behest of their corporate colleagues.
While the firm fared well in 2009 it is anticipating a dent to its profit in 2010 after taking on new office space in London’s Gresham Street. For most of the year the firm will be paying rent for that building and its existing office at St Paul’s and is also funding a refit of its new base.
UK 200 RESULTS 2009
Movement since 2008
Turnover (£M):
Profit per equity partner (£K):
Earnings per partner (£K):
Equity spread (£K):
Net profit (£M):
Profit margin (%):
Revenue per fee-earner (£K):
Revenue per lawyer (£K):
Revenue per partner (£K):
Revenue per equity partner (£K):
Total number of fee-earners:
Total number of qualified lawyers:
Total number of partners:
Total number of equity partners:
Total number of female partners:
Total number of female equity partners:
Total number of staff:
Leverage ratio (fee-earners per equity partner):
SAME
21.0
806
484.6
314 - 956
11.2
53
412
420
808
1,500
51
50
26
14
11
5
91
2.57
Pensions boutique Sacker & Partners, which reports on a calendar year basis, had a reasonable year in 2008, although its profit margin suffered a minor dip.
The firm's turnover remained static at £21m while its average profit per equity partner (PEP) figure fell by just under 2 per cent, from £822,000 to £806,000. Profit margin fell from 55 to 53 per cent.
Part of the reason for the PEP dip was that the firm, which operates a six-rung lockstep, admitted two more equity partners during the year. The firm now has 16 equity partners out of a total partner headcount of 26.
The entry point on the lockstep varies depending on how profitable the firm is in the year a partner joins the equity. In the 2008-09 financial year those on the bottom rung received £314,000, while in the previous year the sum was £378,000. Top of equity in 2008-09 was £956,000, down from £1.01m the previous year.
Once a partner has entered the equity theoretically they will take six years to reach plateau, although their performance is reviewed every two years. The firm can freeze a partner's position on the lockstep but cannot reverse it.
The firm's focus is pensions, with work in that area accounting for more than 90 per cent of fee income. The remainder comes from the litigation practice, which also focuses on pensions disputes.
The firm advises pension schemes as well as trustees and counts Lloyds TSB Pension Scheme, BBC Pension Trust and Royal Mail Pensions Trustees among its clients.
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