UK insurance giant Legal & General has picked Dublin as the European base for its investment management arm, the Irish Independent reports.
A LGIM spokesman confirmed the decision to the paper yesterday, with strong indications that more units of the firm will follow in the wake of Brexit.
The move will be subject to regulatory approval and will have "no foreseeable impact on operations and staff in other LGIM locations".
While the total number of jobs created in the capital could be fewer than 50, it represents a big win for the Government given Legal & General's standing in the industry. With over €1 trillion in assets, it is Europe's largest investment manager.
Legal & General's director of group finance, Garvan O'Neill, addressing the European Insurance Forum in Croke Park, Dublin, yesterday.
O'Neill praised the clarity of Ireland's financial supervisory environment and said that the creation of the new EU subsidiary was not "not something we take on lightly.. .given the incremental regulation that sits around an entity."
He added:
"When we make a decision as to location, and effectively we have made a decision... that is the location. And that is from where we will launch all European activities."
On the subject of UK firms making the hop across the Irish Sea, the chief executive of Card Factory told the group's AGM yesterday that plans to open a number of trial stores here later this year are "progressing well".
The company has 876 stationery stores across Britain and Northern Ireland.
