Ireland's wealth managers should look to work for a boutique

With Ireland's traditional mainstay of large wealth managers languishing, smaller boutique players are benefitting and grabbing a larger slice of the market. Not surprisingly, they're becoming increasingly desirable places to work.

Brewin Dolphin's decision to spend nearly €36m on acquiring Irish wealth manager, Tilman Asset Management has created a lot of headlines, not least because the move comes amidst the worst economic crisis in the country's history.

Nonetheless, while most financial services firms in Ireland are taking a cautious approach, boutique wealth managers smell an opportunity.

"Recent events in Ireland have only made this opportunity greater with many clients moving from banks and other institutions which were dominant in our field," Brewin said in a statement.

Anglo Irish Bank is selling its wealth unit, Ulster Bank is pulling away from targeting high net worth individuals, and the lack of trust in the domestic banking sector has seen many turn away from the likes of Bank of Ireland Private Banking and AIB Private Banking.

"There's a gap in the market as some of the larger houses have dirtied their bibs in the eyes of Ireland's wealthy," says Eoin Blake, director of Lincoln Search & Selection. "Boutique firms are capitalising on this, and taking the opportunity to poach the best wealth managers who can bring in new business."

There have been numerous examples of recently established boutique wealth managers in Ireland.

In May, Smith & Williamson revealed plans for an Irish expansion, creating a dozen investment roles in its Dublin office. Covestone Asset Management was started by lawyer Donal Roche in 2009 and now has a team of six investment professionals in Dublin, while Quilter - admittedly part of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, but it takes a boutique approach - has been steadily hiring in Ireland throughout last year.

"Many high net worth individuals want to move from a model of aggressive cross-product sales they received at the larger wealth managers to a more traditional relationship-based approach at a boutique firm," says Colin McGhee, managing director of Paragon Executive Search. "If you have solid book of business and proven investment expertise, there are still job opportunities within Ireland's smaller wealth managers."