Paget-Brown Financial Services is a boutique corporate services firm which is growing and expanding its client offering and reach with a new base in Belfast.
The firm, which has its headquarters in the Cayman Islands, provides a full range of financial, regulatory and governance services for corporate, fund and trust clients.
It’s a company with a strong history – working with clients right across the globe across key areas such as corporate, governance and regulatory, typically with funds and SPVs (special purpose vehicles) for international financing transactions, as well as ultra-high net worth individuals and their family investment companies.
While the firm, which has around 40 staff globally, boasts clients based around the world, it now has a base in Belfast with a team of experts delivering tailored and bespoke financial and company management solutions to a wide range of individuals and businesses.
“Our clients really are global,” Toni Pinkerton, chief executive and a director of Paget-Brown Financial Services, said.
“Having the office in Belfast will help us access opportunities in new regions as a result of the proximity, while improving service for our clients outside of North American time zones.”
That talent pool in Belfast will now help the firm expand, both locally, and with its existing client base – with the extended time zone coverage strengthening the firm’s client service model, especially for those based in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“The move into Belfast also gives us access to a strong talent base,” Toni said.
“This is a critical success factor because it allows us to continue to strengthen our client service model while supporting our clients’ growth and expanding into new markets.”
Ryan Cooke, a director – who is from Northern Ireland – says while the company considered other locations for its new office, the primary justification was the access to great people.
“You have big firms working in Belfast – pumping out really experienced and well-trained people, and the two universities, with really qualified people for the areas of focus which we have as a business,” he said.
He said the firm’s strength is its “boutique” nature – developing “tailored services to clients”.
“We aren’t taking a square peg and trying to push it into a round hole,” he said. “We can be agile and adjust more easily. We forge a partnership with our clients, and often go further than some providers and get more embedded, and therefore more entrusted – that gives us a greater line of sight.”
He said it’s also about “the people” within the firm, which clients will be working with – building strong relationships, rapport and trust.
Darren Leonard heads up the Belfast team, and works across corporate and government services.
“We now have a team in Belfast working and building out the governance function, which feeds into the office in Cayman,” he said.
“We are growing the Belfast office to bring talent in for other areas, such as regulatory and compliance services. The city is quickly being seen as having a brilliant talent pool, with better access to really qualified people.
“A lot of clients are based in different time zones. Having that team in the UK time zone means we can deal with a lot of requests, in real time, before the Cayman office comes online. So there is a real synchronicity there.”
Established in 1981, Paget-Brown Financial Services has delivered high-quality services to clients for over 40 years. The organisation prides itself on its deep commitment to client-centric solutions, reliability and integrity.
Ryan and Darren are both alumni of Ulster University – studying the MSc in Management and Corporate Governance which is affiliated with The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland qualification – and began their careers here before working across different locations globally.
“On the regulatory and compliance side of things, we are finding great candidates to choose from in what might be considered niche positions,” Darren said.
The firm’s decision to open up in Belfast stemmed from a strategic drive to broaden its reach and capitalise on the expertise in the local market.
And with Northern Ireland’s thriving business environment, a strong network of industries, and an increasingly sophisticated client base, the company sees significant opportunities to offer increased support to existing clients and build relationships and solutions for new clients.
The firm’s Northern Ireland’s focus will largely mirror that of the Cayman Islands office, partnering with clients for the provision of corporate and governance services, fund administration and regulatory and compliance services.
The team has extensive experience working in different markets across the world, each with separate regulatory requirements and environments.
“There is a real understanding among our people – it’s not just that we’ve seen it, we’ve also worked in those jurisdictions, implemented and, practiced local regulations, and fully understand them,” Ryan says.