CANADIAN financial services giant Bank of Montreal has shown confidence in Scotland amid the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote by moving its Edinburgh fund management operation into a flagship office.
The bank’s BMO Global Asset Management arm has taken a 15-year lease on a penthouse suite in the Quartermile complex by Edinburgh university.
The offices will provide a base for the 118 staff who worked in BMO’s office on George Street, which has historic associations.
BMO moved into Scotland through the 2014 acquisition of F&C Asset Management, which owned the rump of the Ivory & Sime business. This was a leading force in the Scottish fund management industry for years.
The decision to renew the company’s commitment to Edinburgh provides a notable endorsement for the city.
A BMO asset management spokesman said the office plays a strategically important role in its Europe, Middle East and Africa division.
It is headed by Marrack Tonkin who leads BMO Global Asset Management’s Investment Trust business.
The bulk of BMO’s private equity business is housed in Edinburgh, under the leadership of Hamish Mair.
Edinburgh staff provide accounting and customer service support for BMO’s investment trust business. They are responsible for much of the work done by the European finance function.
David Logan, a Scot who is global head of distribution in the asset management arm, said BMO was very pleased with the progress achieved by the business since it acquired F&C.
With around £190bn under management the firm has won significant amounts of new business since the F&C deal and the momentum has increased in recent months.
BMO expects to have a long term presence in Edinburgh. It has taken on enough space to increase staff numbers by around 20 per cent.
There have been fears the Brexit vote could cause problems for UK financial services firms by making it harder to sell services in Europe. But Mr Logan indicated BMO was relatively relaxed about the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union.
The vote has not made BMO less likely to invest in the UK. “We believe we will be able to undertake the majority of our activities from the UK on an ongoing basis,” said Mr Logan.
BMO has entities in Luxembourg and Dublin it could use for business in Europe.
Mr Logan noted: “I don’t believe there will be any need for a significant movement of personnel.”
A Strathclyde University accounting graduate, Mr Logan was chief financial officer of F&C Asset Management when it was bought by BMO for £708 million. F&C had 100 staff in Edinburgh at the time of the deal.
The former Foreign and Colonial asset management took on the legacy of Ivory & Sime when it merged with ISIS in 2004. ISIS was formed after Friends Provident bought Ivory & Sime in 1997. Foreign and Colonial investment trust launched in 1868.
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