Farringdon Wealth has become the latest financial advisory firm to open in Singapore.
The subsidiary of Farringdon Asset Management will focus on providing succession and estate planning to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients in Asia Pacific.
It will partner with several private banks across the city state to offer a range of advice on trust and insurance wrapped investments, “designed to cater to wealthy individuals looking to begin pass on their assets to the next generation”, the firm said.
In addition, Farringdon Wealth will also pioneer a fintech-based advisory platform that leverages existing technology used by Farringdon Group, combined with additional features designed to offer a wider range of advice than traditional robo-advice platforms.
Dominated by few players
The firm will be headed by two partners who have joined the business from Globaleye in Singapore.
Byron Murphy will assume the role of chief executive, with Shreemati Varadarajan coming on board as chief operating officer.
Murphy commented: “We see great potential with the creation of this new subsidiary to service an under-served market in the high net worth space, providing a much higher level of advice standards than what is currently available in the Singapore market.”
He added that the financial advisory (FA) market “is increasingly dominated by a handful of large players, many of whom have been slow to adapt to changes in regulation and technology; leaving many of the quality FA reps in Singapore struggling to manage their current client portfolios”.
“We aim to offer a range of solutions for the best and brightest in Singapore to grow their businesses and simplify the ongoing client management process. In conjunction with Farringdon Asset Management, our reps will be able to offer a width of services from group employee benefits and retail protection products, right through to external asset management services at the very best private banks.”
Murphy said that the range of services provided by Farringdon Wealth is something “that no other provider in Asia can currently compete with”.
Fintech and robo
“The digital advisory solution we are developing will put Farringdon at the forefront of the fintech revolution sweeping the global financial industry,” added Varadarajan.
“The new platform will be the first in Asia to combine the traditional robo-advisory approach, which is very much investment based, with insurance and protection planning – to offer clients a more holistic financial planning solution,” she said.
“The technology will also aid advisers by taking out much of the day-to-day administration required to comply with the latest regulations. This will allow a smaller number of better-qualified, more professional advisers to service the needs of a larger number of clients.”
Hitting the $1bn mark
The creation of Farringdon Wealth was announced at its parent’s ‘billion-dollar’ party, held at the top floor of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on 28 February.
Group assets under management exceeded S$1bn (£558m, $738m, €649m) for the first time in February 2019, standing at just over $1bn (£757m, €880m) on the night of the party.
Martin Young, chief executive of Farringdon AM, said: “This achievement is the culmination of the exciting journey we started with the formation of Farringdon Asset Management in 2015.
He said it was “testament to just how effective Singapore has become as the global wealth management hub over the past few years, thanks to the nation’s strong regulation and business-friendly environment”.
Farringdon Group chief executive Stuart Yeomans has big ambitions for the group.
“We expect to become one of the dominant players in the Asia region in the independent asset management space.”
Yeomans, who was named in the IA 100, expects the group to “break the $2bn mark before the end of 2019”, and alluded to “some exciting news coming out soon, which will show our global expansion strategy”.
