Cazenove poaches investment director Kennedy as Adam & Co raided again

CAZENOVE Capital Management, which expanded into Scotland earlier this year, has poached investment director Niall Kennedy from private bank Adam & Co.

It is the second time in a year that Adam & Co's ranks have been raided by a London-based wealth manager hungry for a slice of the Scottish market after Brooks Macdonald persuaded a team of four directors to move to its newly created Edinburgh office last autumn.

Kennedy leaves Adam & Co after five years. He was previously a fund manager for Cazenove in London for 18 years before moving back to Scotland.

The past five months have been particularly tumultuous for Adam & Co amid a series of walk-outs - including that of its former managing director, David Cathie, on 2 September.

Kerry Falconer, Adam & Co's head of private banking, has been appointed as interim managing director until a permanent replacement is announced.

It is believed that more than 20 people have left the Royal Bank of Scotland-owned firm since William Kirkwood, head of private client investment administration, and Ross McDonald, head of investment operation, walked out in April after more than 20 years.

In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, Falconer confirmed Kennedy's departure but said the bank has already found a replacement - whom she declined to name. She insisted the recent departures on the investment side of the business were a "short-term blip".

"We did lose some people from investment management," Falconer said. "We have replaced many of those. We were left with a viable operation and we are in the process of recruiting."

Cazenove, which last December acquired Thornhill, the private client business spun out of Martin Currie, has made no secret of its ambitious expansion plans in Scotland.

Thornhill's Edinburgh office managed assets of about 350 million, which Cazenove hopes to grow to 1 billion over the next five years.

Several London-based firms saw an opportunity to gain a foothold in the competitive Edinburgh market after the banking crisis when clients are thought to have become disillusioned with some of the institutions owned by the bailed-out banks.

Andrew Ross, chief executive of Cazenove, said: "Niall joins Cazenove at an ambitious time for our business in Edinburgh, following the merger with Thornhill earlier this year."

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