Ravenscroft has opened an office in Monaco as part of its continuing plans for growth and expansion.

The company, which now has £6.5bn of assets under administration, has formed a partnership with Tavira, a specialist in global execution services for commodities, derivatives and equities, which already has an office in the principality as well as in London and Dubai. The joint venture, which is known as Tavira Ravenscroft, has had its application to operate approved by the CCAF (Commission de Controle des Activites Financieres) in Monaco.

‘This is incredibly exciting news for Ravenscroft. A core part of the company’s long term growth strategy is to offer our range of services in jurisdictions which share similar characteristics to the Channel Islands where we are very proud to have our headquarters,’ said Ravenscroft group managing director Mark Bousfield.

‘That growth will come organically, through acquisitions and through finding like-minded partners as we have with Tavira. Over the last decade, we have been building Ravenscroft, expanding our services and adding the right calibre of staff across all parts of the business to allow us to export the model, which has delivered the success we have enjoyed to date, to other jurisdictions. Tavira Ravenscroft will offer our key services such as execution only trading, advisory investment and discretionary investment management to Monaco’s residents.’

Eliot Goodfellow, founder and CEO of Tavira, said the joint partnership brought benefits to both companies.

‘We recognised there was a need for a different investment approach for Monaco residents and so we are delighted that we have found a partner in Ravenscroft which will allow us to expand our offering to not only our existing clients, but prospective ones as well.’

Following the approval from CCAF, Ravenscroft and Tavira put together a team to progress the plans and work closely with Monaco’s Department for Economic Expansion.

Ravenscroft’s head of trading and market making Dale Acton, who has been with the company since its inception in 2005, has moved to Monaco to head up the new business. He will be joined by his partner Debbie Wilson, who has worked for Ravenscroft’s investment management team since 2008.

‘This is an exciting opportunity with enormous potential and I am confident that Tavira Ravenscroft will be welcomed by those living in the Principality,’ said Mr Acton.

‘We are well-versed in providing a broad range of financial services in a professional, bespoke and friendly manner, and in operating in smaller locations where we can be a part of the community. I’m confident that investors will find a company with those credentials and attributes very appealing.’

Ravenscroft, whose chairman and major shareholder is Stephen Lansdown, CBE, founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, has offices in Guernsey, Jersey and the UK. It recently announced it had acquired Royal London Asset Management CI Limited and Royal London Custody Services CI Limited to expand its existing cash management offering. This followed the acquisition of precious metals specialist BullionRock in December 2017 and a 25% shareholding of MXC Capital (UK) Limited in August.