Wealth manager Dolfin is experiencing something of a mass exodus as 20 staff are made redundant alongside two senior resignations – amounting to about 15 percent of the firm’s headcount, thewealthnet can reveal.
Among the departees are head of wealth management Nick McCall, who joined from Hay Hill Wealth Management in 2018; chief marketing officer Andrew Carrier, who is ex-Deutsche Bank; chief financial officer Sanjay Maraj; and head of operations Martin Bradbrook.
It is understood that Mr Bradbrook accepted another role earlier this year, while Mr Maraj may stay on in an advisory board capacity.
Nick McCall
Dolfin employs 130 people and according to its website it advises on about £3.1 billion ($4.1 billion) in client assets, meaning the redundancies amount to roughly 15 percent of its headcount. Some of these staff had already the left the firm, while others were working their notice periods.
A spokesperson for the firm said it was looking to cut costs and refocus its business model, during "a challenging time for our industry as a whole".
A new CEO is set to arrive
The firm's former chief executive, Denis Nagy, was also shown the door in May, allegedly after a difference of opinion with Dolfin’s majority owner Roman Joukovski. The pair co-founded the business in 2013.
Mr Nagy’s successor is yet to be formally announced, though thewealthnet has learnt that he comes from a non-wealth management background, in a period when the firm is reportedly looking to focus more on its private wealth business.
Read more: Our follow-up interview with Dolfin's new head
Head of wealth Mr McCall, who is understood to be working his notice period, joined the firm in September 2018 from Hay Hill Wealth Management, where he was chief executive. He has some 30 years’ experience in financial services, having spent seven years in senior roles at Credit Suisse.
He was also chief executive of Falcon Private Wealth between 2013 and 2015. Dolfin bought this business, which is the London subsidiary of Switzerland’s Falcon Private Bank, in May 2019 predicting the deal would add 300 accounts and about $800 million in AUM.
The Swiss Falcon Private Bank announced later that month that it was shutting down, after it became embroiled in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB money laundering scandal.
A wider re-think
It is also understood that the firm is considering shutting its platform business and focusing purely on private client wealth management. The firm opted to build its own platform from scratch, employing programmers in Amsterdam, which it used for both its own clients, as well as to white label to other firms.
However, a staff member told thewealthnet that more than £10 million had been spent on developing a product that could have been bought “off the shelf” for a six-figure sum.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “During a challenging time for our industry as a whole, Dolfin is undertaking a transformation programme to refocus our business model, cut unnecessary costs and strengthen our culture and control frameworks.
“We are laying the groundwork for growth in the new year. Organisational changes are being made as a result.
“We can confirm that a new CEO has been appointed and – as is customary – we will be naming him once he has been formally approved by the FCA.”
