St. James’s Place to extend its DFM services into the Republic of Ireland following acquisition of Harvest Financial Services

St. James’s Place Wealth Management Group, today announces the acquisition of pensions and investment firm Harvest Financial Services Ltd (subject to regulatory approval) as it looks to extend its discretionary fund management (DFM) offering to new clients.¹

St. James’s Place currently provides DFM services to its UK and Hong Kong clients via its wholly owned subsidiary Rowan Dartington, which has grown funds under management to over £2.3bn² since becoming a part of the St. James’s place Wealth Management Group in 2016. The acquisition of Dublin-based Harvest Financial Services will now see this expertise extend to clients in the Republic of Ireland through the complementary capability provided by the firm.

Established in 1993, Harvest Financial Services has grown to become one of Ireland’s leading self-administered pension, investment and financial advisory firms, helping meet the needs and objectives of over 1,500 clients through the provision of investment advice and financial planning. The firm, which has assets under administration and advice of approximately €1 billion, employs over 50 people at its offices in Dublin.

Graham Coxell Executive Chairman of Rowan Dartington, said: “This acquisition supports St. James’s Place Group’s strategic growth plans of continuing to invest and extend Rowan Dartington’s proven DFM capabilities. With our ability to build locally orientated investment solutions, we are well placed to extend our offering into the Republic of Ireland.

“As a marketplace, Ireland shares many of the same characteristics as the UK, while Harvest has an established track record of providing high quality financial and investment advice and pension services to clients there. The firm shares many of our values and we look forward to working closely together to provide leading investment management services to Irish clients, helping them to achieve their financial objectives.”

Gerry Devitt, Harvest Financial Services CEO, said: “This deal is testament to the hard work of all Harvest staff and we are extremely excited that St. James’s Place is bringing its market leading proposition and expertise to the Republic of Ireland.

“With so many complex financial decisions to make during our lifetimes, the need for professional and quality financial and investment management has never been greater. Helping people to achieve long-term financial security through the provision of retirement planning, financial planning and investment management was our goal when we started out over 25 years ago. With the backing of St. James’s Place and Rowan Dartington’s DFM services, we feel we can take this vision to a whole new level to go from strength-to-strength in providing a best in class service.”

¹ Harvest Financial Services does not currently hold portfolio management permissions from the Central Bank of Ireland. It will apply to hold these permissions in due course.

² Correct as at December 2018.