The Wales office of Brewin Dolphin is celebrating having passed the £1 billion mark for funds under management (FUM) after a decade of significant growth and business evolution.
In the last ten years, the investment management firm, which is located in Central Cardiff Enterprise Zone, has grown from a team of nine and £187m of FUM, to a workforce of 35 and £1bn of FUM.
David Myrddin–Evans, who was appointed to head up the Wales Office of Brewin Dolphin in 2005, said: “This is a landmark achievement for our office and is testament to our hard-working and dedicated team.
“Back in 2005, the business was operating as a traditional stock broker with a single service. Today, it is at the cutting edge, akin to the major financial houses in London, offering clients a full investment and financial planning wealth management service.
“A lot has happened in the last ten years, which makes this milestone even more significant. During the last decade the investment and financial markets have seen tremendous upheaval due to the economic crisis and regulatory changes, however, our dynamic and progressive business model is robust and paying dividends.”
Following the merger of the Swansea office with the Cardiff operation in 2013, the Wales office was restructured last year into three specialist teams to provide wealth management and financial planning advice to private clients; charity and institutional fund management, and discretionary fund management for the financial adviser community in Wales.
David continued: “Last year, our office reached sufficient scale to offer three standalone teams each led by directors who are specialists in their field. This development has paid off for both our clients and our staff.
“Our clients benefit from an improved service which is delivered at a local level and completely bespoke to each individual’s position, while our team has been given clear progression paths, allowing them to flourish in their roles and respective specialisms.
“This is particularly important as we look to attract high quality graduates to the firm; in the past graduates typically believed they should go to London to get a well-paid job in the financial services sector. Now we are investing in trainees here in Wales and growing our own talent pool, which is helping to develop our business further.
“We are committed to driving forward our business in Wales over the next ten years. Wales has a buoyant and growing financial services sector, which accounts for 22% of Welsh GDP. It’s an important element of the nation’s economy and it’s great to be part of it.”
In addition to providing highly paid jobs in one of the Welsh Government’s key economic sectors, Brewin Dolphin has invested over £400,000 in the local community over the past ten years through sponsorship agreements with organisations including the Cardiff Blues, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the Wales Millennium Centre, Craft in the Bay, Walk on Wales, Abergavenny Food Festival and the Llandeilo Festival of Music.
Despite restructuring the business, introducing a new approach to investment management and reaching the landmark milestone of £1bn FUM, this is only the start of an exciting journey for Brewin Dolphin’s Wales office, according to Myrddin-Evans.
He added: “Reaching £1bn FUM is by no means the end of the story. In fact, we believe we’re still at the beginning. The difference is that we now have the foundations and structure in place to propel us to the next level.
“Within our office, we’ve got a young, highly talented team, with significant potential to move our business forward and achieve further growth.”
The Wales office is one of 28 offices across the UK, Eire and the Channel Islands for the Brewin Dolphin Group which manages £29.4 billion of funds for over 100,000 private clients.