28 February 2019
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St. James's Place will expand its discretionary fund management service into Ireland as it acquired pensions and investment firm Harvest Financial Services.
St. James's Place (SJP) currently provides DFM services to UK and Hong Kong-based clients through its wholly-owned subsidiary Rowan Dartington, which became part of the group in 2016 and now has funds under management of £2.3bn.
The acquisition will see these capabilities extended to clients based in the Republic of Ireland.
As a marketplace, Ireland shares many of the same characteristics as the UK, while Harvest has an established track record of providing high quality financial and investment advice and pension services to clients there"
Established in 1993, Harvest Financial Services helps meet the needs and objectives of over 1,500 clients through the provision of investment advice and financial planning. The firm, which has assets under administration and advice of approximately €1bn, employs over 50 people at its offices in Dublin.
While Harvest does not currently hold portfolio management permissions from the Central Bank of Ireland, SJP says it will apply to hold these in due course.
Graham Coxell, executive chairman of Rowan Dartington, said: "This acquisition supports St James's Place Group's strategic growth plans of continuing to invest and extend Rowan Dartington's proven DFM capabilities.
"With our ability to build locally orientated investment solutions, we are well placed to extend our offering into the Republic of Ireland.
"As a marketplace, Ireland shares many of the same characteristics as the UK, while Harvest has an established track record of providing high quality financial and investment advice and pension services to clients there.
"The firm shares many of our values and we look forward to working closely together to provide leading investment management services to Irish clients, helping them to achieve their financial objectives."
Harvest Financial Services CEO Gerry Devitt added: "This deal is testament to the hard work of all Harvest staff and we are extremely excited that St. James's Place is bringing its market leading proposition and expertise to the Republic of Ireland.
"With so many complex financial decisions to make during our lifetimes, the need for professional and quality financial and investment management has never been greater. Helping people to achieve long-term financial security through the provision of retirement planning, financial planning and investment management was our goal when we started out over 25 years ago.
"With the backing of St. James's Place and Rowan Dartington's DFM services, we feel we can take this vision to a whole new level to go from strength-to-strength in providing a best-in-class service."
The deal is understood to be worth around €12m,
