Thurleigh adds partners to incentivise young wealth managers

Wealth management boutique Thurleigh Investment Managers is expanding its partnership structure to include several young portfolio managers in a bid to incentivise staff and grow the business.

Last year, 29-year-old portfolio manager Edward Allen and 33-year-old chief operating officer Richard Wright were made partners.

Charles MacKinnon (pictured), Thurleigh co-founder and chief investment officer, said the partnership will expand at the start of the next financial year. Portfolio managers David Livingston, 26, and Luca Serino, 28, are to become partners alongside chief financial officer Tyron Edmonds, 30.

The trio will buy into the ownership stake but MacKinnon said the motive for the move was to incentivise staff. ‘As we are a partnership, they will now know that if we as a business do well, they will also do well,’ he said.

MacKinnon added the benefits from a larger partnership will ultimately be expanded to clients as well. ‘It means that our clients know that they are dealing with the principal of the firm and not just an employee.’

Although firms often offer partnerships to ‘lock in’ employees, MacKinnon said this should not be the main priority. ‘Most people stay here because they believe it’s the most exciting place that they can work at. If they think it’s not the most exciting place, they should leave. Putting a contract around them will result in unhappy people.

‘Making them partners is not about tying them in – or it’s not supposed to be – but it is meant to be clear about the benefits of being here rather than somewhere else.’

However, MacKinnon pointed out that entering the partnership was not a one-way bet for the new members as the business might not grow. ‘This is in no sense a guarantee. It cuts both ways.’

Prospective partner Serino said: ‘The difference for us is that in three years if we can double the assets we can do really well, which makes me want to do more work towards it.’

Graham Harvey, a director at strategic consultancy Scorpio Partnership, said the partnership structure makes perfect sense for both staff and employers within the wealth management community and was ‘an alignment of interest’. However, he cautioned: ‘Partnerships can impact the way institutions source capital and the way they work from corporate governance.’