NFP Ireland, an Aon company, has appointed former Munster and Ireland rugby player Niall Scannell as a private client consultant in its Cork wealth and financial planning team, a hire that matters broadly because it extends NFP's presence into a fifth Irish location, and matters specifically to accountancy professionals because it forms part of a sustained acquisition-led strategy through which a global insurance broker, not a dedicated wealth platform, is building Irish financial planning capability.

NFP Ireland, an Aon company, is an insurance brokerage and financial planning firm with offices in Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Cork, built in Ireland through a run of acquisitions including HC Financial, Orca Financial Group and Metis Ireland since 2024.

Scannell joins after a 13-year professional rugby career with Munster and Ireland, holding a Qualified Financial Adviser designation, a CIMA Diploma in Management Accounting and a BCL in Law from University College Cork.

NFP Ireland managing director Colm Power said Scannell brings a "strong understanding of financial planning" alongside qualities built over more than a decade of professional sport.

The hire fits a consistent pattern rather than a one-off appointment. NFP has expanded its Irish wealth and financial planning presence through named acquisitions in Galway, Dublin and Limerick since 2024, each bringing an established local managing director into NFP's structure rather than starting a region from scratch.

That model differs from the dedicated wealth platforms already reshaping the Irish market. NFP is fundamentally a global insurance brokerage under Aon, cross-selling financial planning to an existing commercial insurance and employee benefits client base, rather than a standalone wealth manager built purely around investment advice.

Scannell's Cork appointment extends that structure into a region NFP had not previously staffed directly for wealth and financial planning, following the geographic pattern set by its earlier acquisitions in the west and south-west.

For the sector, NFP's approach shows insurance brokers, not just dedicated wealth managers, are now active consolidators in Irish financial planning, widening the range of buyers independent advisers can consider.

Source: TheCork.ie / Aon Media Room