Forsyth Barr, which is helping to recapitalise South Canterbury Finance, has nabbed four investment bankers from Craigs Investment Partners, while fund manager Paul Glass has recruited three of his old team at Brook Asset Management.The moves highlight co
Forsyth Barr, which is helping to recapitalise South Canterbury Finance, has nabbed four investment bankers from Craigs Investment Partners, while fund manager Paul Glass has recruited three of his old team at Brook Asset Management.
The moves highlight continued consolidation of the financial services sector as firms jostle for position amid volatile global markets.
Forsyth Barr said yesterday it had hired four investment bankers from Craigs, formerly ABN Amro, including former top advisor Guy Williams, who will lead a nine strong team at Forbarr.
The move comes as Deutsche Bank finalises plans to buy a 49.9% stake in Craigs and confirms earlier reports the German bank was favouring its own investment banking unit ahead of the former ABN Amro team.
Forsyth Barr managing director Neil Paviour-Smith said the appointments would help the firm build a bigger presence in corporate client services.
Asked whether the new blood would be helpful for the firm’s work with South Island finance company South Canterbury, which needs to raise further capital, Mr Paviour-Smith was diplomatic in his answer.
“I’m sure they will be relevant to all our existing mandates,” he said.
Meanwhile, fund manager Paul Glass has hired three former Brook staff for his new venture Devon Funds Management.
Chris Gaskin, Slade Robertson and Mel Firmin are to join Devon and be reunited with Mr Glass two years after he and business partner Simon Botherway sold Brook to Macquarie.
The move drew comment from analyst Morningstar, which consequently downgraded Brook's “high octane” Alpha and Tasman strategies from "highly recommended'' to "avoid''.
“Without Robertson at the helm, we have real questions about Alpha's viability as an ongoing vehicle.''
Morningstar said there was now a clear risk that remaining Brook staff could also leave the firm.
“Investors in Brook Alpha and Tasman have done very well over the years,” Morningstar said. “But a host of other options is available to investors which we think will more than meet their needs.”
