Bank of Ireland announces establishment of new Wealth and Insurance division under leadership of Gavin Kelly

Friday 12 July – Bank of Ireland has announced the establishment of a new division – Wealth and Insurance. Bank of Ireland’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Davy (Wealth and Capital Markets) and New Ireland Assurance, will be part of this new division.

The Wealth and Insurance division will be led by Gavin Kelly as CEO of Davy and Wealth, a position he will take up later this year. In this role, Gavin will be CEO of Davy, will join the Davy Board, and will have oversight of New Ireland Assurance.

Davy is the leading Irish Wealth Management and Capital Markets firm, with an almost 100 year heritage and employing more than 900 people across five locations in Ireland and the UK. The firm offers investment and wealth advisory services with Assets Under Management of €25.9 billion at end-March 2024. Davy Capital Markets offers a broad range of high-touch advisory, research and execution services to Irish and UK corporates and global institutional investors.

New Ireland Assurance, with Assets Under Management of €23.6 billion at end-March 2024, is one of Ireland’s leading providers of life assurance, pensions and investment solutions to individual and corporate customers.

Today, Davy and New Ireland serve around 650,000 Wealth and Insurance customers in Ireland. Since 2021, Assets Under Management across the Wealth and Insurance franchises have more than doubled, growing from €22.5 billion to €49.5 billion.

Through Davy and New Ireland, Bank of Ireland’s wealth and insurance offering is unique in the Irish market. This presents an opportunity for enhanced customer outcomes and growth. With more than four million customers in total, the Group’s aim is to grow the number of customers served by Davy and New Ireland, providing them with leading wealth and insurance products and services at every step and stage of their life.

Gavin joined Bank of Ireland in 2007 and has held a number of senior management positions including Interim Group Chief Executive, Chief Executive of Retail Ireland, and Chief Executive of Corporate and Commercial Banking. As CEO of Davy and Wealth, Gavin will remain on the Group Executive Committee of Bank of Ireland. A process is underway in respect of the CEO of Corporate and Commercial at Bank of Ireland and an announcement will be made on that matter in due course.

Myles O’Grady, CEO of Bank of Ireland, said:

“I’d like to congratulate Gavin on his new role. Bank of Ireland’s wealth and insurance strategy offers a great opportunity to serve our customers and grow our business. Davy’s wealth and capital markets capability is an extremely important part of the Bank of Ireland Group, offering excellent services that command very high levels of client trust and satisfaction, and New Ireland is absolutely core to our business. Under Gavin’s leadership, we see Davy and New Ireland continuing to grow, strengthening relationships with their clients, expanding their services, and providing the best wealth and insurance offerings across the Group’s wider customer base. Gavin has a strong track record of delivery and I’ve no doubt he will make a great success of the role.”

Vincent Crowley, Chair of Davy, said:

“On behalf of Davy, I would like to welcome Gavin and I really look forward to working closely with him when he joins as CEO later this year. In a highly competitive process, the Davy Board considered Gavin to be the standout candidate to lead Davy through our next phase of growth. Gavin brings significant experience which will support Davy as we seek to deepen the value we offer corporate and private clients of the firm and ensure Davy remains a great place to work for our people. Finally, I thank Bernard Byrne for his valuable contribution to Davy and particularly navigating Davy’s change in ownership in recent years. I wish him all the best in the future.”