First State Investments has announced that its Irish management company is now operational following the appointment of four new additional roles, on the back of regulatory approval received from the Central Bank of Ireland in February 2019.
FSI Ireland has been established as an Irish Asset Management Company to provide First State’s EU clients with continued access to products and services as well as providing First State with the ability to develop their EU focused distribution activities regardless of the Brexit outcome, the group said.
Frank Glennon has been appointed as head of distribution. He was previously head of institutional business development for Europe at First State.
Joanna Galvin has been appointed as head of compliance. She is responsible for the relationship with the CBI, a UK not-for-profit business organisation, and external auditors. Galvin joins First State from KBC Fund Management, an Irish fund manager. Prior to this, she spent 10 years at HSBC in a variety of senior compliance roles.
Mark Buckley has been appointed as head of risk. He is in charge of the firm’s risk and control management. Before this, Buckley worked at US banking and financial services company BNY Mellon and UK auditor Deloitte in control management and risk consultancy.
John Donovan has been appointed as investment assurance manager. He is responsible for overseeing MiFID investment management services. Donovan joins from Perpetual Investments in Australia where he was an investment reporting manager.
Chris Turpin, managing director for EMEA at First State, said: “We are extremely pleased to have completed the necessary regulatory and operational requirements to open our asset management company in Ireland which we believe will allow us to grow our business with EU-domiciled clients.”
