Wednesday 17 August 2016 1:35 pm

Top investor in Panmure Gordon “fully committed” to UK stockbroker

QInvest, Panmure Gordon’s biggest shareholder, has committed itself to the UK-based stockbroker after reports of interest from other investors.

The Qatari investment bank yesterday revealed that, following the Brexit vote and other events around the world, it was “carefully reviewing and stress-testing” its portfolio.

And City A.M. understands QInvest has received a number of informal approaches for its stake in Panmure over the last 18 months.

But QInvest chief executive Tamim Hamad Al-Kawari has made clear that his firm is not interested in disposing of its 43.4 per cent stake in Panmure.

“We are fully committed to Panmure Gordon and its management team,” he told City A.M.

“It is encouraging to see the significant uptick in number and quality of transactions across both capital raising and merger and acquisitions mandates.

“Panmure Gordon is today one of the very few mid market corporate brokers that benefit from material and tangible support from its main shareholder, which is becoming increasingly a key differentiating factor between Panmure and its smaller, undercapitalised competitors.”

Asked for more detail on how the UK’s Brexit vote affects his business, Hamad Al-Kawari said: “QInvest has a number of direct and indirect exposures in the UK market across its three divisions, including listed stocks exposure through our asset management business, property and various other sectors.

“Brexit has introduced a significant element of uncertainty and volatility in the UK and European markets. We are generally prudent in our investment approach and have fully hedged our foreign exchange exposure to the British pound immediately upon investment.

“The impact of Brexit on the wider UK economy remains to be seen and we still see attractive investment opportunities, albeit currently at higher risk.”