By Business & Finance 
Michael Doherty, founder and chief executive, Woodbrook Group.
Waterford man Michael Doherty is gearing up to list Woodbrook Group, the financial services company he founded, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Michael Doherty’s Woodbrook Group, a financial advisory company based in Cyprus, is preparing for qualification for a Nasdaq listing, with a potential market value of up to $50 million (€44 million).
Woodbrook is licensed by the Cyprus financial regulator and holds an insurance licence in Cyprus. It also operates in eastern Europe, Russia and Vietnam.
The Group has acquired a US company, NHPI, to allow it to activate a Nasdaq listing, and is understood to be looking at further acquisitions in Ireland and Dubai as it seeks to grow its business, aiming for €20bn of assets under management within the next year. Mr Doherty will be chief executive and president of the restructured business.
Commenting on the proposed Nasdaq listing, Mr Doherty said:
It is a great honour for us to get listed on the Nasdaq, the world’s most preeminent and prestigious exchange. Over the past few years we’ve worked hard to achieve this milestone. This will enable us to grow as an organisation and expand in new markets without compromising on our integrity and the bespoke services we provide to our clients.”
Michael Doherty, founder and CEO, Woodbrook Group.
Mr Doherty began his career in financial services working with IFG in Ireland before working with a series of wealth companies and establishing Woodbrook as a wealth management company in 2013. Having made a number of acquisitions of smaller players it has grown to a large advisory group.
Following a year of expansion and mergers, in line with the company’s strategic growth forecast, Mr Doherty said his goal is to make Woodbrook one of the top five financial brokerages and corporate services companies in the world.
Reflecting Woodbrook’s expansion, Mr Doherty was recently named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Global Financial Services Sector by International Adviser.
Social responsibility
Both Mr Doherty and Woodbrook’s Group Director of Operations, fellow Irishman Senan McGonigle, have children who are wheelchair users and the company is committed to supporting a charity called Charisma in Cyprus, which provides artistic services to ‘charismatic individuals with special needs’. Woodbrook Group assists with an innovative mix of direct financial assistance, playing an active role on the charity’s committee and also by promoting the work of the charity. It is an approach the company is hoping to replicate supporting charities in other territories as it expands its global operations.
Mr Doherty says:
Charity work is individual and personal. Our own ethos is influenced, of course, partly by my own and Senan’s personal experiences, but all our staff have shown the same willingness to help whenever they’ve been made aware of opportunities. We’re not doing this to be better that others – it’s a corporate ethos, but very much grounded in the goodness of people. Just give them an opportunity.”
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