Brooks MacDonald has announced an expansion of the company and has hired an ex-rugby international to head its new operation.

The firm, which offers advice to high-net-worth individuals, families and businesses through a fee-based service encompassing Financial Planning, has opened its first office in Wales.

Located in Cardiff, it will be its thirteenth office across the UK and the Channel Islands.

Andrew Lewis, whose career as a rugby player included 29 caps for Wales, has been appointed to lead the new office. He intends to announce additional investment management hires for the office shortly.

The firm cited his “extensive experience as an investment manager and of the local market in Wales, and specifically working with professional advisers and intermediaries” in hiring him.

He was previously Cardiff divisional director at Brewin Dolphin, where he worked for 13 years following his sporting career.

The company said its new office will “further expand our geographical footprint, providing exposure to a new region with an established advisory network where the brand is not widely known”.

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