UK Focus On Irish Wealth Firms
UK wealth managers have been sharpening their focus on Ireland, with Brewin Dolphin leading the way in 2019 when it paid €44m to acquire Investec’s wealth management business. In September, Brewin Dolphin was subsumed into Royal Bank of Canada in a £1.6bn deal that created one of the largest wealth managers in the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands, with £58bn assets under management.
Kingswood Holdings, a plc quoted on the AIM stock market in London, made its play for a share of the Irish wealth market opportunity with the October 2022 acquisition of Moloney Investments, the D4 financial adviser trading as MMPI. Kingswood agreed to pay €25.8m to acquire 70% of MMPI, formerly known as Moloney Mortgages Pensions and Investments.
MMPI provides financial planning, general and protection insurance, as well as investments, pensions, and mortgage advice, principally to high-net-worth individuals. MMPI employs 54 people, including 18 advisors, and was established in 1993. Turnover in 2021 was €2.8m, made up of investment product commission (59%) and bespoke investments (41%). Gross profit was €1.2m, and Kingswood said that on a pro forma basis MMPI had EBITDA of €4m in the year to April 2022, and c.€700m assets under advice.
Kingswood CEO David Lawrence commented that Ireland is a €40bn wealth management market, “with the mass affluent segment of the market in particular experiencing persistent growth”. The selling shareholders in Moloney Investments were Bryan Moloney (63.8%), Thomas Horkan (15.0%), David Swaine (10.0%), Gerard Lawlor (5.2%), Peter Hanrahan (5.0%) and Niall Ringrose (1.0%).
Bryan Moloney, MMPI CEO, stated:
“Kingswood shares our vision and beliefs of empowering its employees to provide excellent client service and I am confident that their investment provides a great outcome for both our employees and clients alike.”
In September 2022, UK wealth manager Fairstone selected Pax Financial as its entry route into the Irish market. Headquartered in Newcastle and with c.1,000 staff across 40 UK locations, Fairstone oversees £13.5bn funds under management for c.50,000 wealth clients and 40,000 mortgage clients. Based in Stillorgan in Dublin, Pax has 66 staff and advisers, offering a range of financial services for c.7,700 clients. Funds under management are c.€200m, according to Fairstone.
Pax Asset Management DAC was established in 2008 by Johnnie Wilkinson, who has since gone on to greater things with Greenman Investments, a German commercial property specialist with €1bn AUM. Paul Merriman (40) became a director in 2012, with Conor Byrne joining the board in 2016 and Ian Britton in 2019. Prior to the Fairstone deal, Merriman owned 55% of the equity, Britton 40% and Byrne 5%. After the deal, Merriman’s stake has reduced to 22% and Britton’s to 16%.
The company developed the ‘askpaul’ service offering jargon-free financial advice to consumers via social media channels. Turnover more than doubled year-on-year to €7.1m in 2021, when admin expenses amounted to €5.6m, including €1.7m in directors’ remuneration. Merriman has taken on responsibility for Fairstone in Ireland as CEO.
“We have spent over a decade developing our business and reach in order to facilitate a move such as this,” he stated. “The decision by Fairstone to acquire Pax is a measure of confidence in the Irish market and represents an exciting opportunity for the Irish consumer.”
In July 2022, Hawksford, a UKbased global company that provides administration and director services, snapped up Pearse Trust. Hawksford provides outsourced administration and director services to institutional, entrepreneurial, and high-net-worth clients. Pearse Trust Ltd was owned 91% by Joseph Hickey (67), with fellow director Grainne Riordan speaking for the balance of the company equity.
Pearse Trust was established in 1987 and has operations in Dublin, Belfast, London, Vancouver and Wellington, with an associated office in Mexico City. The company reported a profit of €860,000 in 2021, when 17 people were employed. Pearse Trust declared a €960,000 dividend for shareholders and three directors received €320,000 in remuneration.