Brooks Macdonald has entered into its first international strategic alliance with Abacus Financial Consultants, an independent financial advisory firm based in Dubai.
The alliance will enable Abacus’ Dubai-based clients to access Brooks Macdonald’s full range of international investment management services – including its discretionary multi-asset and direct equity and bond strategies – which will become central to Abacus’ client proposition.
The alliance will also allow Abacus’ clients to benefit from Brooks Macdonald’s team of over 90 investment professionals across the UK and Channel Islands. The structure is aligned with Abacus’ model of demarcating the roles of financial planning and investment management.
Brooks Macdonald will offer additional services to Abacus in the form of enhanced reporting, training and marketing support.
Darren Zaman, chief executive officer, international at Brooks Macdonald, says: “This international strategic alliance is a first for Brooks Macdonald and an important step as we continue to extend our services and build on the positive momentum of our international strategy.
“Dubai is an exciting market with a growing expatriate community, which we believe offers good opportunities for growth. The quality, experience and fee-based model at Abacus made them a natural fit for our first international alliance and we are confident that our investment solutions will help to meet the needs of their clients.”
Con Lillis, co-founder and director at Abacus, says: “This strategic alliance is a landmark moment for Abacus. Providing high quality discretionary investment management services is part of Brooks Macdonald’s 25-year-old heritage, and aligns with our service-led, holistic financial planning proposition.
“Like many other financial advisory markets around the world, the environment in Dubai is fast changing as financial regulation and client needs evolve with the times. Partnering with Brooks Macdonald – like us, a pioneer of fee-based advice – underlines how we are responding positively to these regulatory changes in Dubai, as local demand grows for quality, fee-based advice with well recognised discretionary investment managers.
“We hope that aligning ourselves with quality firms such as Brooks Macdonald will help us in our focus on recruiting experienced and qualified staff to support our continued business growth.”
