Goodbody Stockbrokers

Goodbody Stockbrokers is Ireland's longest established stockbroking firm with roots dating back to 1877. As well as being one of the leading institutional brokers, it is one of the largest private client firms in Ireland. It is a member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange and a SETS participant of the London Stock Exchange. The company has offices in Dublin, Galway and Cork. It employs 222 people.

Goodbody Stockbrokers was acquired by FEXCO in January 2010 for €24 million. The Financial Times commented that the lowly price tag placed on Ireland’s oldest stockbroker and "one-time bastion of Ireland’s Protestant business elite" was just another measure of the dramatic decline of the Irish economy. Allied Irish Banks were likely to have had to indemnify, Fexco, the new majority owners of Goodbody Stockbrokers against any legal action arising from the firm's boom-time trading. The deal saw the broker’s own management take a 25 per cent stake in the business.

Ireland has two large (one of which is Goodbody), and half a dozen medium-sized brokerages. A report by the Central Bank of Ireland in January 2013 warned there will have to be mergers of firms to ensure the industry survives, but this process will have to be done in a controlled way -- because any instability in the sector could pose a danger to many people's savings, and prevent new businesses from raising money at a time when banks are not lending. The business is “doing okay”, its largest shareholder said. From time to time, there are rumours that Fexco is looking at selling its share, but no sooner do they surface than they are scotched.