BLG

Family Wealth Oce

1. Tell me about your background (education/previous

experience/other jobs)

1. Leaving cert, degree in business and finance,

qualified financial advisor, diploma from the
securities commission uk. Worked for aib as a
financial advisor, went to bank of Ireland ( financial
adviser, Rabo bank head of wealth management.
Nordea back Luxembourg and Zurich associate
director and joined credit Suisse Zurich , Geneva ,
and London as Vice President and now works in
his own company blg family office

Did you go to third level? Did you find that it benefitted you?

Yes. Undergraduate post graduate and

professional qualifications are essential

3. Tell us about your current business

3.they are a boutique firm who are established as

charter accountants who specialise in managing
the financial affairs of wealthy and complex
families.

How did you come up with idea? What inspired you?

When working with credit Suisse in London and

Zurich some of the key clients were single family
offices who are dedicated to managing the assets
of super high individuals. Post the financial crisis
they recognised that trust amongst these families
with the traditional institutions was broken. Ad that
the the future of advisory for financial and asset
management was through the multi family office
route.

What were the first steps you took to set up the business?

he had an established client base with whom he

was confident would adopt the new model. And
sought partners who had share values and
relevant experience who he decided to establish
the firm with.

How did you fund it initially?

the firm was funded by the personal

assets of the partners.

Were there any major challenges at the start?

fear of not succeeding and fear of

taking a risk

How did you overcome these challenges?

We set ourselves milestones from

which we were able to judge their
progress

What do look for when hiring staff?

relevant qualifications and

experience, attention to detail and
high levels of professionalism with a
Good work ethic and people who can
work on there own initiative and finally
they have to be ambitious.

Do you set daily/weekly/monthly/long-term goals?

we set annual and quarterly targets

but as Individuals we set monthly
goals

Did you see any opportunities for your business?

yes we saw a fragmented financial

services sector that was particularly
disconnected from sophisticated clients

What skills and characteristics do you think make a successful

entrepreneur?

bravery, belief, passion, work ethic

and skill.

Did the recession impact your business?

the recession was the corner stone

of our opportunity

Do you think things are beginning to improve in the Irish Economy?

Absolutely yes the lead and lag

indicators all point towards a
sustainable recovery the risks
remain on the global horizon and
however the Irish economy still
feeling the effects of dislocated
markets of property supply

How do you market your business?

the majority of the business goes out

through word of mouth from clients and
partners and they also have a
continued effort to build there brand
amongst professional peers home and
abroad.

Does running a business consume a lot of time?

Yes it's constant you can never

switch off ( maybe a Sunday )

Do you find it stressful?

There's positive and negative stress

positive stress is running the
business it's productive and
rewarding

Do you think networking is important?

critical, business is all about people

not what you know and who you
know.

How does networking help your business?

it help you promote your business

and sell your business.

Any final words of advice to a budding entrepreneur?

Believe in yourself don't worry bout

funding money is a commodity. And
take advice and use the supports.