Brexit uncertainty creates new opportunities for financial sector

The Brexit effect is benefiting the wealth management sector, months before the UK exits the EU.

That is the view of James Bailey who is covering the North West for one of the world’s biggest wealth management operators, Julius Baer International.

The Swiss firm, with £300bn of funds under management, hired Mr Bailey as managing director to drive business growth across the region.

Working alongside a team of experienced wealth advisers from his office in Knutsford, they believe Brexit can create new opportunities.

Mr Bailey said: “Brexit has created an environment of uncertainty, which is usually a catalyst for people seeking advice about their wealth, and that is what we’re experiencing now.

“We’re helped by the fact that we are a global business, as we are able to offer our clients a global perspective through a local lens which sets us apart from the competition.

“We operate in 50 locations in 27 countries, which is very important for investors – we can offer a truly global view with investment expertise physically present in the world’s key financial markets.”

Originally from Cornwall, Mr Bailey, 48, settled in the North West in 1994, after an early career in London.

Since then he has worked in the wealth management sector based in Manchester.

He was recruited in late 2017 as 127-year-old company Julius Baer saw the opportunity to expand out of London and the South East into the Northern Powerhouse region and beyond.

Two experienced Julius Baer relationship managers, who have relocated from London to support the expansion in the North West, also join him, along with additional support from relationship manager assistants.

“Our job for Julius Baer is to structure wealth for clients as efficiently as possible across their own lifespan and across different generations. Our aim is to manage it with as little risk as possible – to preserve that wealth,” Mr Bailey said.

He stressed that it is Julius Baer’s exclusive focus on wealth management which sets the company apart from its rivals.

“We work with very wealthy private individuals, and we do nothing else. Our whole approach is about the private client, and nothing gets in the way of that.”

He added: “I think the North West is a fascinating area and it’s different from everywhere else in the country.

“Looking at the history of the region, the entrepreneurial flair is nothing new – just look at Manchester’s pivotal role in the industrial revolution. That new money is now making its own wealth on the same grounds again.”