International wealth manager Evelyn Partners believes it has an opportunity to grow in Middle East markets outside of the UAE.
The firm said that it was keen to expand but in a “controlled fashion”.
Maurice Keane, managing partner of international at Evelyn Partners, told International Adviser: “We’ve got an experienced international business development team and fast-growing business. We’ve grown the business exponentially over two and a half years. We will always be looking for the best talent to come and work for us in the international field.
“We will always look to expand it. We would like to do a bit more out of Asia. We’ve already have some strong relationships in Asia, but there’s some work to be done. There’s also work still to be done in the Middle East. We’re very strong in the UAE but we’d like to do a bit more in Bahrain and some of the satellite countries, where I’ve worked before.
“There is scope to pick up more business in that expat field. What we’re not going to do is run at it at a million miles an hour. We will look to expand but in a sustainable controlled fashion. We feel as though we’re ahead of the game with our proposition, it’s just a question of exploiting that in the right way across all jurisdictions.”
Growth for Evelyn’s international business is unlikely to mean acquisitions.
“I think from an international point of view, we will never say no,” Keane added. “From an international lens, organically, we’re growing at a speed. I’m not sure it’d be necessary, but you’d never say never. Making an acquisition now may end up being a distraction to our growth in the international market.”
Middle East growth
Keane admitted that the Middle East is a key area for growth for the firm outside of its mature UAE business.
He said: “I was head of Middle East for years at Standard Chartered. If you look at Saudi, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, they are massively underserved. Looking at the expat market, we’ve got the ability to serve them.
“Bahrain, from an expat growth point of view, will be second to UAE. Qatar and Saudi have got the oil expat market which is arguably served well, but are now attracting expats from other professions with whom we are used to working.
“It is the expats in other industries including construction, engineering, and even finance that are underserved. Our route to entry in these markets is our big partners that have entered those wealth sectors already. We can enter to support them to pick up market share.
“From market knowledge and through partnerships of intermediary firms who we work with, it is especially interesting to us. We’ve got one intermediary relationship with advisers based in the new developments in Saudi and we’re already picking up business there.
“These markets shouldn’t be taken lightly as they can be very different. Culturally they have nuances, and you need to make sure you clearly work in the regulatory boundaries for cross border business.
“These markets are underserved, and we would like to extract some more value than we’ve got but through partnership we have already. We are unlikely to put boots on the ground ourselves.”
Singapore vs Hong Kong
Evelyn’s international business doesn’t just focus on the Middle East, it also has a focus in Asia and Europe.
The big discussion in Asia currently is the competition between Singapore and Hong Kong for the number one financial centre for the region.
Utmost told IA several weeks ago that there is a shift in Asia with some clients preferring to hold assets in Singapore.
Evelyn’s Keane said: “I wouldn’t call it a tidal wave of movement, but you can see the slippage from one to the other.
“But is that any surprise? You’ve got China putting its stamp on Hong Kong, you’ve got covid regulations that are probably the most stringent globally, and you’ve also got political pressure put on firms that are in Hong Kong.
“If you talk to some of the big intermediary firms out there, they’re seeing a gradual move to Singapore. They’re seeing advisers move to Singapore. But what we are not seeing is big firms close the door and move fully.
“I think what you’re seeing is a gradual rebasing. I don’t see a mass exodus or a total exit from Hong Kong, but I do see that the pendulum is slowly swinging towards Singapore. However, you have got two very different regulatory regimes to contend with. It’s not a straightforward transition from Hong Kong to Singapore.”
Europe market and Brexit
The “Brexit scenario” is still a contentious issue for Europe, another key battleground for Evelyn’s international operation.
So, how has the advice market in the region coped since the UK left the EU?
“I think Brexit has slightly been overshadowed by other issues we’ve had such as covid, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis, and people’s wealth being dissipated with the cost of living,” Keane added. “I think that’s mitigated some of the bigger issues that could have happened with Brexit.
“We’re not really feeling the pain because we can transact through our Irish subsidiary which holds a full Mifid licence unlike a number of our competitors.
“I think we’re in a business-as-usual holding position. I think if the geopolitical scenario in Ukraine sorts itself out, or even stabilises, and we have an energy price stabilisation, then you may see a situation where the EU focuses again and Brexit suddenly becomes more of a priority.”
