Edinburgh-based fund manager Baillie Gifford is to open an office in Dublin in preparation for Brexit.
Subject to authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland, the new office, which is expected to employ around a dozen staff, will operate as an EU subsidiary company domiciled in Dublin.
Andrew Telfer, Baillie Gifford’s joint senior partner, said that the decision to open an office in the Irish capital had been informed by growing demand from clients in Europe and expansion opportunities in the European Union.
“We are committed to servicing our existing EU-based clients, as well as expanding further. We have been exploring various options to allow us to continue this development ahead of the UK’s planned exit from the EU,” he said.
The announcement follows similar moves by asset managers and banks to open or expand operations in financial centres in the EU ahead of the UK’s departure from the 28-member bloc.
So far as asset management is concerned, Dublin and Luxembourg have been the principal beneficiaries, with Frankfurt the most popular destination for banks.
Baillie Gifford, which is run as a privately-owned partnership, currently employs 1,047 people, most of them in Edinburgh. As of end June, the firm had assets under management of £192.9 billion (€214 billion).
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