Seccl establishes Seccl Ireland DAC as it prepares for European expansion
Seccl, the Octopus-owned embedded investment platform, has established a new Irish business, Seccl Ireland DAC, and appointed Ronan Gahan as its CEO, as it takes further steps towards its planned European launch. The move is being driven by demand from existing Seccl customers looking to launch investment propositions beyond the UK.
Seccl’s technology already supports nearly one million investors in the UK. The establishment of its Irish business marks the next step in bringing that capability to customers across Europe, supported by the local expertise and regulatory understanding needed in each market.
Ronan is a well-known figure in the Irish financial services industry, having founded Conexim, an open-architecture investment platform, in 2010. Conexim grew to become one of the largest investment platforms in the Irish market, used by more than 300 regulated entities, and was acquired by Irish Life Group in 2020.
With experience spanning both institutional and retail channels, Ronan has worked with organisations from Fortune 50 firms to early-stage startups. He is the founder and former chair of the Irish MiFID Industry Association, sits on the Central Bank of Ireland’s Financial Industry Innovation Forum and brings deep experience in EU market entry, authorisations, governance, compliance and risk.
Ronan will work closely with executive chair David Ferguson and Seccl’s wider leadership team, which is being further strengthened by the appointment of Miguel Ortiz as senior adviser. Miguel is an established financial services leader with deep expertise across European wealth, asset management and investment platforms. He was formerly group COO at M&G and chief transformation officer at Allfunds, as well as a partner at BCG.
Commenting on the appointments, David Ferguson, executive chair at Seccl, said:
“These are the first major steps in a European journey we’ve been building towards for some time. With Seccl Ireland DAC established and Ronan at the helm, we’re putting real structure behind that ambition.
“Our expansion is being shaped by existing customers that want to bring scalable investment propositions to more markets. Ireland is the right place to start: it gives us a strong financial services ecosystem, a clear market opportunity and the foundations to build a repeatable model for further European expansion. There’s plenty of work ahead, but the direction is clear, and the opportunity is enormous.”
In Ireland, Ronan and the team are actively engaging with the development of the proposed new Personal Investment Account (PIA), with a view to being among the first infrastructure providers ready to support firms once the new investment account structure is introduced.
Ronan Gahan, CEO of Seccl Ireland, added:
“Ireland has a strong and established financial services ecosystem and, with the proposed new Personal Investment Account (PIA) in development, there’s a clear opportunity to help more first-time investors and savers access the market – whether through established financial institutions or digital-first firms.
“To do that well requires infrastructure that can support low balances, broad asset choice and efficient operations. Seccl has already proven that model in the UK, where its technology powers investment for platforms including Monzo, GoHenry and Söderberg. I’m looking forward to helping bring that experience to Ireland, and to building the foundations for Seccl’s wider European ambitions.”
Acquired by Octopus in 2019, Seccl has rapidly grown to become a significant player in the investment infrastructure market, processing around 6 million transactions and 25,000 transfers (roughly 15% of the UK transfers market) each month.