Kieran McDonnell

Senior Director, Private Clients

Kieran joined 7IM in 2018, having previously spent five years in Dubai with private bank Arbuthnot Latham, and before that serving at Coutts. His primary objective is to work with clients to define their goals, and then put his expertise to work to provide the most suitable solutions, which can be adapted over time.

7 Questions with Kieran

1. How did you get into wealth management?

My Father worked in Wealth Management, so from an early age I had exposure to financial services. I studied Economics and Accountancy at university, but chose to work in sales for a design company. While I loved the people element of the job, I missed the finance side. So, after a few years I moved into Wealth Management and haven’t looked back.

2. What’s the biggest highlight of your career in wealth management?

Being asked by the new CEO of Arbuthnot Latham to join the team developing their international proposition, before moving to Dubai with my family to open their first overseas office in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

After five fantastic years, we returned to the UK, when I joined the expanding Private Client Team at 7IM. Being part of the team developing the new Wealth Management 360 Service for 7IM and growing the business is a fantastic opportunity.

3. What do you find most rewarding about managing people’s wealth?

Spending time with clients and becoming the trusted adviser, where clients happily share their thoughts, concerns and aspirations, for themselves and their family. I really enjoy being able to witness clients achieve financial freedom, and helping them using my years of experience, create the cash flow clients require in retirement in the most tax efficient way.

4. What’s the worst non-financial investment you’ve made?

A Compaq/HP iPaq PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Too heavy, limited ability which may have been linked to the user’s ability – I could never get it to sync properly. I only ever used it as an expensive electronic Filofax. Quickly superseded by my new company Blackberry… emails 24 hours a day!

5. If you could pick one financial habit for everyone to have, what would it be?

Start early and invest time in planning your financial future – ideally with a financial adviser, not a Tik Tok influencer.

It’s really important to financially prepare for retirement. From age 60-ish you effectively become self-employed, so you need to ensure you have enough resources to pay your salary for the rest of your life. The best way to prepare is to create a Wealth Balance Sheet so that you understand your assets, liabilities, income and outgoings (plus protection – Life cover and Income protection), and continually review it to ensure you are on track to achieve your goals and financial freedom.

6. How can wealth management services match the needs of different individuals, given that every person has different needs and ambitions?

The most important part of my role is to ask the right questions, and then to understand what is important to a client and their family. Where do they want to be in the short, medium and long term?

For most clients, the plan is surprisingly similar, but often the journey doesn’t follow the plan, and that is when we need to be able to adapt. Over the years I have worked with clients whose circumstances have changed – whether it’s because there were changes in their health or that they experienced a big loss in their close circles, or for any other reason – so I truly understand the importance of constantly adapting.

I have been honoured to be in a position where clients who have been through significant change have entrusted me with their finances. At what often is an emotional time for clients, having a trusted adviser is invaluable. We manage money, but we work with people and families, and supporting them so they can adapt in times of need is the most rewarding part of my role.

7. What are the main points that individuals looking to relocate to the UK should consider?

Having worked with international clients for most of my career and having been an expat myself, the most important consideration is to plan. (Please don’t call us from the Airport.) There tends to be so many variables – some controllable, some not so much. Having a plan that can be adapted is vital. Lists and spreadsheets are also allies.

International tax advice is usually a must, as is the ability to breathe deeply, think of the bigger picture, and not focus on the hundreds of issues that will be a part of moving country and continent.

Finally, focus on the family, their emotions, and feelings. Leave the financial planning to us.

Tax rules are subject to change and taxation will vary depending on individual circumstances. The value of investments can go down as well as up and you could get back less than you invested.