London & Capital has for years focused on areas such as serving expat US citizens and those with connections to the US – filling a hole vacated by a number of banks. More recently, the need to tap into continental European wealth has become too important a segment to ignore, the firm's CEO says.

London & Capital is launching a European business to tap into the high net worth wealth in the European Union and broaden offerings. The firm is already known for serving US expats, among other client segments.

The new entity – London & Capital Europe – which is regulated in Spain, is now live. It is the culmination of months of preparation, Guy McGlashan, L&C’s chief executive, told WealthBriefing in a call. 

“This is our official launch into the European market…we have been in Europe for some time with European-based client business and there is tremendous growth opportunity for our proposition,” he said.

“Our assessment of many of the European markets suggests that HNW and UHNW clients are overpaying for a basic service wrapped around a highly commoditised investment proposition. We believe we can bring something more tailored to each client at lower cost and thereby deliver better long-term outcomes for them,” McGlashan said. 

L&C has about £4 billion ($4.06 billion) in AuM and the firm hopes to grow from there: “In three to five years we expect quite a material share of our AuM to be with Europe-domiciled clients,” he continued. 

Why Spain?
The organisation chose Spain because it is a large European nation with an established regulator and reputation. L&C’s chief investment officer, Pau Morilla Giner, is from Barcelona and also a large shareholder in L&C, so choosing Spain as a European regulatory spot was a sensible choice, McGlashan said.

The UK’s departure from the EU, as well as the growth potential in countries such as Spain and France, prompted L&C to build a presence in the European Union.

London & Capital already has clients in Spain, and one potential sub-set of such clients could be those with a Latin American connection, so the Spain hub is useful in this regard, McGlashan added. 

The firm will be aiming to hire people for its LCE business.