Yesterday saw the confirmation of Rowan Dartington’s deal to buy Isle of Man-based platform Acordias, and Brooks Macdonald’s acquisition of Jersey-based wealth manager DPZ Capital. Elsewhere, St James’s Place Wealth Management is believed to be at an “advanced stage” in its purchase of Singapore-based wealth manager Henley Group.
Brooks Macdonald in particular already has a global footprint with its international subsidiary, which launched a platform-based international managed portfolio service at the end of last year. In late 2012, it also acquired discretionary business Spearpoint, which has offices in Jersey and Guernsey.
“Clearly this provides an enhanced service for clients in terms of tax planning – the benefits available from being able to manage wealth in Jersey are attractive,” says Andrew Watson, general financial analyst at N+1 Singer.
Significant AUM
“In acquiring DPZ, Brooks Macdonald has acquired a business with strong underlying infrastructure, advanced portfolio management processes, and there’s significant AUM there as well; similarly, the recent acquisition of Isle of Man-based Acordias by Rowan Dartington. These platforms also allow wealth managers to develop more global distribution offerings.”
He adds: “There is potential for expansion into other markets where culture and economy are similar to the UK, for example: the acquisition of Henley by St James’s Place, which also offers it a route to Chinese wealth.”
With all due respect to Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, they may not be far-flung jet-set locations, but they are nonetheless vital gateways to a different group of investors with a range of financial services needs.
For Graham Coxell, CEO of Rowan Dartington, the UK market is being “recycled, rather than actually growing”, making it worthwhile for firms to expand abroad. In particular, he believes that expansion through the platform market offer great opportunities.
UK OK
He says: “What is clear is that there is a few hundred billion pounds currently owned by English speaking people abroad, outside of their normal domiciled countries. We believe that a lot of these people might not be connected to the UK, but love accessing money from the UK because they know the UK regulatory framework, and of those that generally are closely aligned to the UK, such as Isle of Man.
“Launching a platform that caters to these English speaking people, and allowing them to get access to UK services and funds, will be a winner.”
