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Investec shuts up shop on Dublin equities

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Investec’s Ian Huggard

Investec’s Ian Huggard

Investec’s Ian Huggard

Investec Ireland has effectively pulled down the shutters on its institutional equities business, making three redundancies in a team that had already been slashed and restructured last year.

Analysts Owen Callan and Ian Hunter along with head of Irish equity sales Ian Huggard will all leave the business, meaning Investec's Irish operations will have no sales or sales trading and minimal research following the move.

Investec had cut numbers at the unit in Dublin from 11 to five last year, and shifted its reporting lines to London as part of a wider Brexit proofing of the business. Late last year the bank also announced it would stop holding Irish deposits.

In May Investec sold its wealth management business in Ireland to British investment manager Brewin Dolphin for €44m.

That leaves the Irish-regulated business focused on services like treasury, including currency hedging for clients, and corporate finance. Investec Ireland was a takeover target for AIB in 2018, but the deal petered out.

The exit from institutional equities reflects both concerns around Brexit and the impact of the so called MIFiD II regulations, which mean financial institutions must charge clients directly for research, rather than bundling it with other services.

Shares in Investec's South African parent fell last week, after the bank said first-half profit would decline due to Brexit uncertainty and the global trade war. It was also hit by the need to pre-fund the return of Irish deposits.

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