TAYLOR Asset Managers is one of the biggest private managers of clients' funds outside of the major financial institutions. It has substantial business in Ireland and Britain and is managed by Mr Tony Taylor. The company is understood to employ around 12 people and has headquarters in Clyde Road in Dublin.

Earlier this year the group said it had between £180 million and £190 million under management in Ireland. However, following the departure of some staff to form a separate business the total is now thought to be around £50 million to £60 million.

The company's main clients would be relatively wealthy private individuals many of them owners of their own small to medium sized businesses who were looking for an opportunity to earn an attractive return on substantial investment funds.

Mr Taylor established the Taylor group in the mid 1970s. He recently identified Britain as the key area for expansion. Earlier this year, the group reached outline agreement to take over the management of two broker funds in Britain and said it was in negotiations to manage a number of other funds. Typically these deals would generate annual income of between 0.75 per cent and 1 per cent of the funds under management.

Its relationship with US fund management company, Fidelity, was one of the mainstays of its domestic business. The group invested Irish client funds in Fidelity funds which in turn invested them in financial assets across the globe.