Peter McGarry, a top-earning portfolio manager at Garda Capital Partners in Switzerland, is currently encountering a geopolitical event. Europe’s surging anti-immigrant sentiment has embroiled McGarry, who has made immense sums by predicting bond market responses to international incidents. His second successful venture has been providing accommodation for asylum seekers in Ireland via a business he helped to establish and which is in increasing demand owing to a sharp rise in people seeking refuge.
The Irish Government has been outsourcing the supply of asylum seeker accommodation to numerous private firms, as their capacity is overwhelmed by the volume of refugees. McGarry’s company, Townbe Unlimited Co, operates in this sector and, along with a collection of investors, has secured contracts amounting to €28 million ($31 million) since the prior year, based on accessible public details.
However, the increasingly prevalent use of profit-seeking accommodation providers has caused controversy. With immigration becoming the primary concern for voters ahead of an approaching general election, opponents are criticising such companies for capitalistic behaviour and disregarding the potential strain additional residents could place on societal amenities such as hospitals and schools.
While Townbe is not the leading provider, it, and by default, McGarry – a hedge fund manager residing abroad, has borne the brunt of criticism from those opposing migration. The situation took a violent turn in July in Coolock, a neighbourhood north of Dublin, where Townbe intends to house migrants in pre-fabricated units in a disused paint warehouse. This sparked vehement protests which included skirmishes with vast police presence, destruction of properties, and led to several arrests.
“Gavin Pepper, a member of the local council in Dublin and staunch advocate against immigration, who has urged for sweeping expulsions, made the claim that those in charge are indifferent about the individuals who become part of the society. According to him, the only concern they cherish is the monthly paycheck they get. His comments were relayed in an interview, set against a backdrop of a scorched digger at the Coolock site.
A stoic silence was maintained by McGarry when approached for an opinion on this issue. His business associate in Townbe, Paul Collins, revealed his departure from Ireland owing to safety concerns during an RTÉ documentary but remained silent on further comments.
At the dawn of the 21st century, Ireland shifted its policy to delegate housing for immigrants to corporations like Townbe through a web of privately-managed centres. However, in 2018, this arrangement met its limit. Ever since, the standing policy has been to accommodate the overflow in temporary housing or “emergency” accommodation, managed by private enterprises such as independent hotels, guesthouses, and modular homes built specifically for this purpose.
There has been a substantial backlash against the conditions within the system from several government-sponsored investigations, as well as domestic and globally-recognized human rights organisations. They have censured the system for its excessive dependence on private entities.
In 2020, the ruling Government committed itself to replacing the current system with one that is managed chiefly by non-profit organizations, enabling asylum seekers to reside in a blend of social housing and other specially-designed properties.
Unfortunately, an influx of Ukrainian refugees, coupled with a greater number of arrivals from countries such as Jordan, Nigeria, and Pakistan, threw this plan into disarray. As per official records, a record-breaking 75% of Ireland’s 32,000 asylum seekers are now staying in so-called “emergency” accommodations, exhibiting a considerable increase from the 56% recorded at the outset of 2023.
For several private firms, this situation has proven to be beneficial, receiving contracts worth more than €2 billion from the State since the previous year.
Ranking among the top players is Townbe, an operator of both emergency and long-term accommodations. Cape Wrath Hotel Unlimited, associated with the Dublin-based property company Tetrarch Capital, and Brimwood Unlimited, linked with Seamus McEnaney’s family enterprise, are the leading two, based on the official figures.”
Vacant property sellers throughout Ireland are experiencing a surge in interest driven by pledges of financial incentives. According to insiders involved, prospective buyers increasingly express their intent to convert these empty buildings into refugee homes, choosing to remain anonymous due to the private nature of the details.
DLA Piper, an international law firm, highlighted the ongoing high demand and robust performance of the Irish hotel sector during a December presentation. The firm referenced asylum seekers as a potential investment opportunity for the astute investor.
Nevertheless, this phenomenon has triggered a backlash across the political landscape in Ireland. Activists opposed to immigration have exploited it for their own political agendas, criticising the involved companies for imposing asylum seekers on already strained communities, without any empathy. In recent local elections held in June, several of these anti-immigration advocates, including Pepper, secured seats.
“There are genuine concerns about relocating hundreds of people into small towns without expanding essential services like medical care. This situation is being taken advantage of by anti-immigration campaigners,” commented Bulelani Mfaco, spokesperson for the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland.
In 2012, just two years post the real estate crash that forced Ireland to seek an international bailout, investors including McGarry set up Remcoll Ltd., a property investment business. According to the company’s website, they accumulated a wealth of distressed assets, ranging from unfinished ‘ghost’ estates to a Seve Ballesteros-designed 18-hole golf course and a former convent, predominately in smaller towns nationwide. In 2018, the same group commenced the solicitation of contracts to accommodate migrants through another enterprise, by the name Townbe.
Today, McGarry is a key decision-maker in Townbe, owning 40% according to the company’s documents. Irish corporate law does not necessitate the public disclosure of the company’s profits.
Protesters at the Townbe location in July were aware of McGarry’s involvement. “He shows no concern,” lamented Kevin Coyle, another protester who narrowly failed to secure a position on the local council in June. “He’d demonstrate empathy if he truly cared about people, rather than attempting to force migrants into our community.”
As Coyle, alongside Pepper, prepares for the general election, he calls for an immediate one-year prohibition on Irish immigration. As a member of the National Alliance, Coyle affiliated with their philosophy towards immigration, summed up as “Ireland belongs to the Irish.”
Ex colleagues depicted McGarry as a fervent personality who held a strong commitment to societal benefit. In 2006, he participated in the North Pole Marathon, with the goal of funding cancer research, undertaking a challenging course across frosty ocean and snowy surfaces in weather conditions dropping to minus 40 degree Celsius.
For almost a year, he allowed his hair to grow and refrained from shaving for months before the competition to resemble “an authentic Arctic explorer”, according to his own words in an interview conducted back then. Following this, McGarry launched The Earth Foundation, a non-profit aiming to confront the climate change issue.
McGarry’s experience in geopolitical trading is extensive. During his tenure at Denmark’s Danske Bank and France’s BNP Paribas, he emerged as a key figure in the interest-rate swaps market, a tool investors utilise to wager on interest rate fluctuations. This specialty demands meticulous analysis of government and central bank policies.
However, not all of McGarry’s trade ventures were fruitful. After BlueCrest Capital, previously one of the largest hedge funds globally, incurred losses due to wrong-way bets linked to the Swiss franc, he exited the firm in early 2015.
Soon after, he was recruited by Garda, a company named after Italy’s largest lake, with a business strategy focused on profiting from “differing interest-rate policies” among central banks and “government bond supply and demand disparities”, as displayed on its website.
Garda’s origins trace back to a subsidiary involved in asset management within commodities behemoth Cargill Inc during the early 2000s. As per a source familiar with the fund’s performance who chose to remain anonymous, the fund hasn’t recorded a loss over a calendar year.
McGarry’s reputation in the market paints him as one of Garda’s high achievers, pulling in several tens of millions of dollars annually, as per individuals acquainted with the fund. He possesses a high-risk tolerance, sometimes placing wagers so substantial they can influence global markets, as per one insider. In the tumultuous year of 2020, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, he made in excess of $100 million, they added.
Garda’s executives are deeply embedded within European geopolitics. The company highlighted June as a chaotic month in an update to investors, noting “significant advancements” for right-wing groups in European Parliament elections, including France’s National Rally.
Marine Le Pen’s party’s surge, fuelled by an anti-immigration nationalist rhetoric, prompted chaos in the European government bond market and, as per the company, risks instigating “an extended phase of political ambiguity”.
Ireland is due to vote in the forthcoming five months, and there appears to be no decline in the on-going immigration debate. Another fire incident that happened at the Townbe’s location in north Dublin last month is still under police investigation. Pepper, along with his fellow opponents of immigration, plan to persist in their efforts.
Pepper asserted, “You can’t just plonk 500 men in an area and say, ‘There you go, you’ll manage fine’. After all, this is driven by monetary profit.” – Bloomberg