Glasnevin-born Alan Flanagan has enjoyed an impressive career in the competitive world of global asset management since joining BNY (formerly known as BNY Mellon) 17 years ago.
Initially based in Dublin, he moved to the firm’s New York office in 2016, with a series of moves there leading to his current position as head of global client coverage, asset servicing, for the bank. His global role involves dealing with 250 direct reports and extensive travel around the world.
Flanagan credits his early accountancy training and experience with KPMG in Dublin in the late 1990s and early noughties as providing a really solid base for his career.
“I trained as a chartered accountant, and although I decided that audit wasn’t for me, I am forever grateful for the professional standards training I received there – which has stood to me to this day.”
Flanagan also met his wife in KPMG, and the newly qualified pair enjoyed time travelling before settling in the Cayman Islands, where there were opportunities for accountants in the offshore funds area. A planned two-year stay turned into six years, and two of the couple’s four children were born there.
‘People do work very hard here. Winning is important, and there’s a great confidence in people in the workforce’
— Alan Flanagan, BNY
Raising a young family was one of the motivators for a move back to Dublin in 2007, when Flanagan had the opportunity to join BNY to set up and run its private equity fund services business.
Progression with the firm and frequent travelling to the United States led to a decision to move to New Jersey in 2016.
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The decision was also heavily influenced by the autism diagnosis their youngest child received and the belief that he would receive better supports there, which has proven to be the case, he says.
The family settled in Princeton. It is famous for its Ivy League university, but outside its walls there is a beautiful town, he says. “It’s got a really nice international flavour to it. It’s a melting pot, with great restaurants and facilities and really good schools, which has been a great benefit to our family.”
Among the things he likes in the US is the sense of wide open space, in contrast to Dublin. “Space is in abundance here. You notice it around housing and car park spaces. Last time I tried to park a car in Dublin, I couldn’t get over it. There’s more space here, even in the shopping aisles.”
Flanagan makes an 80-minute commute to BNY’s offices in Manhattan. The bank was founded in 1784, making it the oldest bank in the United States.
“We oversee, manage and keep safe in excess of $50 trillion (€47.9 trillion) in assets. Part of my role is to run a team of relationship managers to deal with all aspects of those relationships,” he says.
“Despite the impact of technology in our business, it is still very much a people business. We’ve leveraging AI but it’s still very much a people business and a trust-based business, so the people in my team have to build relationships and build trust to continue to service clients and to grow new business,” he explains.
Another role Flanagan has involves championing neurodiversity as the executive sponsor of BNY’s Heart initiative, which aims to elevate awareness of disabilities and to promote a safe, respectful and welcoming environment where all employees feel included.
Working at the firm involves early starts and Flanagan regularly has breakfast meetings at 7.30am.
“People do work very hard here. Winning is important, and there’s a great confidence in people in the workforce. I see it in the graduates who come and work for the company. I put a lot of that down to the educational system. There’s a lot of emphasis on continuous assessment and presentations, which helps prepare people for work.”
As well as holiday visits, Flanagan gets to return to Ireland on business several times a year, which affords him opportunity to catch up with much-missed family and friends.
“I get to stay in the place in Ireland which is my mother’s house in Glasnevin. The food and the laundry service are just outstanding.”
A further tie to Ireland is that his daughter Sally recently returned to study at Trinity College Dublin.
BNY recently celebrated 30 years in Ireland and Flanagan says many Irish professionals have done well at the firm.
“We have a very strong culture of cultivating talent in Ireland. To have so many Irish people in a firm of this scale sitting in leadership positions says a lot about Ireland and the culture, and what we bring to the table.”
