Anglo Irish strengthens foothold in offshore advisory fund services

anglo continues with expansion plans for the middle east ifa market

Anglo Irish Bank has expanded its presence in the offshore advisory market by opening an office in Dubai, establishing a private client service and launching an international pension plan. In a further development, Anglo Irish has established a fund administration service in the Isle of Man.

The Dubai office is headed by Steve Corrin, who joined Anglo Irish last summer. Mark Gaywood, director of Anglo Irish in the Isle of Man, said that as Corrin used to work for Scottish Provident International in Dubai, he will be "able to expand our presence in the IFA market in the Middle East.

"We already manage the Emirates Airlines pension fund and have other existing business in the Middle East so it made sense to establish a physical presence. As well as Corrin, we expect to have four or five people in the office over the next few months.

"We are targeting expatriates and non-resident Indian investors. The focus will be on our deposit accounts, structured products, international pensions and syndicated property investments."

He added that Anglo Irish will develop dollar-based structured products for the Middle East.

The private client services is headed by James Horrigan and is open to investors with at least £250,000 in assets. Gaywood said that just over 50% of Anglo Irish's client base meets this minimum level.

"The service is formalising and re-branding some of the things we already do for our wealthiest clients," said Gaywood. He added that these clients are being offered a more personal level of service. "They have a direct line to the private client team, for which we have four people already, and a dedicated relationship manager.

"They also receive advance notice of product launches, get better terms and an enhanced offer through extra allocations. Some products are only offered to our private clients. In November, for example, we issued tiered one capital and invited private clients to apply. The minimum amount was £100,000."

Anglo Irish is offering corporate and personal pension plans for high net worth international executives and companies with multinational operations and workforces.

Elsdon Watson, assistant manager at Anglo Irish Pensions, said: "The products will have a bespoke fee structure. Clients are charged everything directly so they know where the fees are coming from. We are making deals with fund management groups where charges will be waived if a certain amount of assets under management are placed with them."

Assets and investments can be held, or invested, in a range of financial vehicles including quoted shares, fixed interest securities, bank and building society deposits, unit trusts, insurance policies, unquoted securities and property.

Once a member has joined the plan they can change jobs and jurisdiction and continue making contributions to the Anglo Irish policy. There are no restrictions on the level of benefits, or age, at which the pension can be taken. There are also no restrictions on the level, or frequency, of contributions either by employer or employee.

Anglo Irish has appointed Richard Bolton, who previously set up the Bank of Bermuda fund administration office on the Isle of Man, to head its new fund administration business.

Anglo irish new initiatives

• A new office in Dubai is headed by Steve Corrin and will target expatriates and non-resident Indians through IFAs.

• A private client service has been established to provide relationship managers and product benefits to investors with at least £250,000 in assets.

• Mobile pension plans for international investors and multinational companies have been launched.

• Anglo Irish has set up a fund administration business in the Isle of Man.