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Swiss Wealth Manager Continues Expansion With Acquisition In Ireland
Helvetia Wealth, the Zurich-based wealth management firm, has furthered its expansion strategy with the acquisition of Mercury Wealth Management, an Irish specialist in the design and distribution of capital secure investments, for an undisclosed sum.
In April this year, the Swiss firm’s chief executive Kamil Stender told WealthBriefing that Helvetia will continue with its “aggressive acquisition strategy.”
The acquisition of Mercury Wealth Management, which was founded in 2003 and has about 2,000 clients, adds SFr70 million (about $61 million) to Helvetia Wealth's assets under management, which now total at about SFr1.3 billion.
The acquisition follows a recent non-organic expansion spree, which saw Helvetia Wealth buying a strategic stake in Dahl & Partner Vermögensverwaltung, the Hamburg-based former media group Axel Springer family office, in mid-January.
In December last year, Helvetia Wealth had already bought Glasgow-based City Gate Money Managers along with a controlling stake in London-based TAM Asset Management, saying it regarded the UK as a key market.
The firm told this publication that it is still looking for further acquisition targets.
With regards to Helvetia’s latest acquisition, Kamil said yesterday: "We are continuing our strategy of growth and expansion and we believe that the relationship with Mercury Wealth Management will further enrich our unique range of investment options.”
Founder and managing director of Mercury Wealth Management Gareth Fahey will continue in this role.
The firm added that senior appointments to Mercury Wealth Management's Life & Pensions division will be announced in the coming weeks.
Helvetia Wealth entered the Irish market three years ago to provide asset management services to private and institutional clients.
The acquisition was completed by Helvetia Wealth Group not Helvetia Wealth Ireland.
Besides its Zurich-based head office, Helvetia Wealth, which focuses on private banking and asset management, now has offices in Berlin, Dublin, Glasgow, Hamburg, Kilkenny, Liechtenstein, Mauritius and London.