Staff walk as BIAM profits fall

Bank of Ireland Asset Management saw its profits drop by 32% over the past year. Lost mandates are the culprit and that could put a strain on staffing.

BIAM has also lost some key investment staff in recent weeks, including four equities fund managers to Australian Perpetual Trustees, according to WealthBriefing.com.

The asset manager's profits fell to €85 million for the year ending March 31, compared with €125 million in the previous year. Over the last 18 months the asset management arm has lost €11.3 billion in mandates.

The Bank of Ireland said it was poised to re-model and rebuild its asset management services but did not elaborate, reports the Advanced Financial Network.

"The asset management division is an important part of the group's ambition to broaden our activities in international skills-based businesses," the bank said in a statement. "Our strategy is to build a diversified portfolio of discrete investment boutiques and to distribute their products through the global distribution platform that we have built up over the years."