Jardine Lloyd Thompson Ireland Holdings Ltd (“JLT Ireland”), a subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc (“JLT”), one of the world’s leading providers of insurance, reinsurance and employee benefits related advice, brokerage and associated services, has today announced that it has agreed to acquire Liberty Asset Management Limited (Liberty) from Friends First Life Assurance Group.
Liberty is a leading specialist in providing advice to companies and trustee boards on employee benefit arrangements and individuals on wealth management solutions. Also being acquired as part of this transaction is Freedom Trust Services Limited (FTS) which provides trusteeship services to a range of corporate and individual pension funds.
These businesses have a strong strategic fit with JLT Ireland and together will draw on the wider JLT Group’s market leading expertise as one of the UK's leading employee benefit providers offering a wide range of benefit and pension services, including administration, actuarial and pension consultancy, investment, flexible benefits, healthcare, benefit communication and financial education. Today JLT has over 5,000 clients with more than 4 million pension scheme members supported by over 2,200 JLT professionals. This will create a new force in the employee benefits industry within Ireland which is going through a period of considerable change and will offer the opportunity to develop innovative solutions to both existing and new clients.
Commenting on the transaction, Pat Howett, Chief Executive Officer, JLT Ireland, said:
“This acquisition provides a unique opportunity to bring together two perfectly aligned businesses. The scale of the integrated business will make JLT a new significant force in the Employee Benefits sector in Ireland. We are looking forward to exploiting the Group’s technical knowledge and technological capability to provide leading edge services to clients. JLT’s ambition is to develop a market leading position in Employee Benefits in Ireland and our new colleagues share this vision and together we all look forward to this exciting opportunity.’’
Steve Robinson, UK Director, JLT Employee Benefits, said:
“Liberty Asset Management has a very strong emphasis on client service and building strong relationships, so culturally is a good fit with JLT Employee Benefits. Their diverse range of services from wealth management to group risk provides a platform for significant growth in Ireland. We look forward to working with our new colleagues.”
Michael Lacey, Managing Director, Liberty Asset Management, said
“The JLT philosophy of acquiring companies to build them for the long-term was very attractive to us and we saw a fit for our company with them from the outset. We are confident that by becoming a member of the JLT family we can provide new opportunities to both our customers and employees through increased investment in our services and people.”
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