Hermes Investment Management has announced the formation of a new Irish management firm in order to ‘mitigate Brexit risk’.
Hermes Fund Managers Ireland (HFM Ireland) will be led by new appointments Carol Mahon and Aoifinn Devitt as head of Ireland and head of investment Ireland, respectively, and will be based in Dublin.
The establishment of HFM Ireland part of the firm’s Brexit Mitigation Project, according to the firm, which operates on the assumption of a ‘hard Brexit’ scenario that does not include transitional arrangements, in tandem with its European expansion plans.
The company was authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland on 11 December 2018 as a UCITS management company, and alternative investment fund manager and also has permission to provide individual portfolio management services.
“Since the referendum in 2016, we have always planned for a ‘hard Brexit’. We recognised early on that we had to make appropriate contingency plans in the absence of certainty, in order to ensure, to the extent possible, that we remain able to manage our clients’ assets in line with their expectations of us,” said Saker Nusseibeh, CEO of Hermes Investment Management.
“Hermes has ten years of investment management activities and service provider relationships in Ireland, with our UCITS range domiciled there. Given this, and our European business growth, we have taken the Brexit opportunity to bolster our presence in Ireland with the establishment of a management company to lead the management of Hermes’ European product offering and facilitate distribution to European clients.
Mahon joins HFM Ireland from Fidelity International, where she spent 17 years, most recently as chief executive of FIL Life Insurance Ireland DAC. She will be responsible for the oversight, development and management of HFM Ireland and any other Hermes branches in the European Economic Area.
Devitt will be responsible for the development and delivery of investment management oversight processes for HFM Ireland regarding products under management, inclusive of collective investment schemes and managed client accounts, having joined the firm from Illinois-based public fund, the Chicago Policeman’s Annuity.