Ravenscroft
Jonathan Pope and Pierre Paul discuss how their cash management team has evolved since it was acquired by Ravenscroft last year
With the acquisition of Royal London Asset Management and Custody Services by Ravenscroft, what is new for your team?
Jonathan Pope: In terms of what a client would see, nothing has really changed. The same people are doing the same job using the same systems. When we attend client meetings we really are able to demonstrate that the proof really is in the pudding: the investment report they are reading is exactly the same format, style and substance as the previous one. The only real difference is that the branding has changed.
We think that being able to demonstrate this level of continuity is vital. What has been strengthened though is the level of on-island support. We don’t want to be seen as predominantly Guernsey based because we’ve got extremely valued clients in the UK, Jersey and Malta as well, but it’s very important that we have a strong headquarters, previously this was in London but now it is in Guernsey; which obviously helps enormously with the immediacy of response.
What sort of support does Ravenscroft offer the team and how has that affected your day-to-day operations?
Pierre Paul: One of the first things that happened was that roles of compliance officer, money laundering reporting officer and company secretary became centralised functions in the existing Ravenscroft compliance team. Before, we did those roles between the four of us—I was both compliance officer and money laundering reporting officer. This change has freed up my time to focus more on the day-to-day running of the business, looking after clients and bringing on new clients.
If you’re talking about investment support, then again continuity is the key word. We have ensured that the same level of investment advice is available under the Ravenscroft framework that we had under Royal London.
Pope: That is one question that comes up, often around the investment support we received from Royal London, which is a very big well known name and we had to assure clients that there were similarly well qualified people in Ravenscroft to ensure we wouldn’t be acting in a vacuum, and while we both have over 20 years of experience of running cash portfolios in the money market, the support we have received from Ravenscroft has been fantastic. We are being integrated into their monthly investment management meeting and now we are all in one office we will be setting up a more specialised cash asset committee.
Did any clients have concerns? What is their feedback now?
Paul: We worked very hard to identify what we thought would be key concerns from our clients. One of the key things is the ring fencing of their assets—ensuring they are kept safe and secure at all times. That was one area we worked hard on. The custodian we used to ring fence clients assets was HSBC. It is still the custodian, in keeping with that continuity. Client assets were held by HSBC before the acquisition and post-acquisition they’re still held by HSBC in exactly the same way.
Pope: A crucial part of what we’ve always set out to achieve is that if anyone has any questions, they can ring our telephone number and someone in the office will know the answer. This situation remains the same and client reaction has been positive that the service levels remain the same.
There has never been a call centre or client services team to deal with before. Now, it’s the same thing, the same telephone number and the same people answering the phone. That continuity was crucial. Paul: Royal London didn’t use the Guernsey business as a conduit for placing business offshore, they let us get on with winning our own mandates for businesses in Guernsey and businesses in the UK. All the business was independent of Royal London, effectively. Now, we are receiving a portion of Ravenscroft previous clients in this space, as well as new business.
When Ravenscroft’s acquisition went public, we had funds under management of just over £2 billon. In the last three months, our funds under management have increased again through new business and referrals from Ravenscroft.
How much of that increase is from new businesses, and how much is from Ravenscroft’s own clients?
Paul: Yes, some of that is internal. That was the reason Ravenscroft acquired us, the system that we use is really excellent for reporting so Ravenscroft clients, who already had a cash allocation as part of their diverse portfolio, are now seeing those benefits. In terms of where we position and source our business from, we’ve got plenty of irons in the fire and a good pipeline of new business prospects.
Has the acquisition had a positive impact on staff?
Paul: We’re still the same team of four, but there’s the greater team at Ravenscroft to provide support if we need it. We’ve recently had an office move, to a much more modern new office which has brought all of Ravenscroft’s services into one place for the first time. Morale is high.
How has the integration of Ravenscroft’s own cash management clients gone? Were there any hurdles that had to be overcome?
Pope: We think that we are able to add some value with the additional reporting that we can generate and the additional reach of our counterparties.
Paul: One of the functions we perform is the ability to provide our clients with banks and counterparties that they previously didn’t have access to. Those counterparties—the banks that we deal with—without exceptions are happy to deal with us at Ravenscroft. There may have been some concern from clients that once the acquisition went through, we might not be working with these banks anymore, but that hasn’t been the case.
What does the future hold for your team?
Paul: We’ve always believed that what we do—segregated cash management—adds value for our clients in terms of the diversification we can offer them. We were firm believers that segregated cash management has a strong future. Our biggest competitors are the banks themselves and money market funds. But what they don’t offer clients is defined investment parameters suited to the clients own needs. With our service you negotiate the maximum maturity the counterparties use and get a bespoke, tailored fit for you. That differentiates us in amongst a range of fairly bland money market funds. Hopefully that differentiation means we can grow the business even further.
Pope: Ravenscroft is very supportive of our plans to grow the cash business; we will be attending various events this year including AIRMIC in June and hope to see people there!
