‘I booked a one-way ticket to America with no idea when I was coming home’
Dublin-born Tony Reilly experienced first-hand how small moments can define an entire life. Worried about his future status as his soccer scholarship in Kansas was drawing to a close in the late 1980s, and drawing a blank with the relevant authorities, Reilly managed to evade security and buttonhole senator Bob Dole when the politician visited campus. Dole, already a powerful figure then, went on to become a Republican presidential candidate and majority leader of the Senate. “Had it been post 9/11, I probably would have been arrested. I pressed a letter into his hand explaining my situation and not knowing how things worked back then, I told him not to pass me off to one of his people. I said I wanted a leg up rather than a handout. It worked. He smiled, scanned the letter, asked me if I was of good character and said if everything in my letter checked out, he was going to help me,” he recalls. The cheeky intervention paid off and within days he had a call from the senator’s office. A work visa was sorted and a mistake meant that what should have been a 12-month card was authorised for 18 months instead. He stayed quiet about that and never looked back. Reilly is modest about the football talent that brought him to the attention of a US college scout, saying that his major strength was an ability to organise midfield and show leadership on the pitch, but it was enough to provide an opportunity to go to Sterling college in Kansas where he helped lead the team to success in college soccer tournaments. He recalls arriving in the US with a borrowed, battered suitcase. “It was 1986 and things were bleak in Ireland and we couldn’t see what was coming for the economy. I booked a one-way ticket to the US with no idea when I was coming home and no idea how I would pay for it.” Studying finance and economics, he developed a keen interest in the world of investment. “I became fascinated by the teachings of Warren Buffett and started reading the Wall Street Journal every day. I was drinking the Kool-Aid.” The scholarship didn’t cover the full cost of his education, so he undertook jobs around the college such as painting, mowing lawns and working cafeteria shifts to pay his way. While he was only left with a small stipend to live on, it enabled him to graduate debt free. A college professor encouraged him to send a final-year paper he had written on community banks to people name-checked in the work, which resulted in a call from a firm in Ohio called the Bank Stock Group, then a niche operation. “I flew up for an interview with the boss there and as I already had another job lined up, I didn’t hold back. I told him that they were a statewide firm with a great proposition, but they needed to go national. I convinced him, he offered me a job and within two years I had the budget to lead a national roll-out,” he says. The Irish woman in New York tapping successful emigrants to fund education back home By 31, Reilly had become CEO, renamed the firm Diamond Hill Capital Management, brought in a new experienced team, and took it in a broader direction managing diversified global asset portfolios. In 2021, he left to set up Ascend Advisory Group, an investment advisory firm which now manages more than $3 billion in assets for clients throughout the US. Ascend has its HQ in Dublin, Ohio, offices that were officially opened by the Irish ambassador to the US, Geraldine Byrne Nason, in 2024. The firm’s clients come from all walks of life, such as a typical working couple saving for retirement or a business owner or farmer looking to build financial independence, he explains. “We have a saying here that every dollar has a mission. Investment is a long journey, and we advise people what to do during good markets and bad,” he says. Married to Trish, the couple have one daughter, Sophie Grace, currently studying in Fordham University. Reilly has named a women’s soccer foundation after his daughter; “Sophie’s Grace” has helped around 20 young women to fund their college education. Having enjoyed both the struggles and the rewards the US offers, Reilly reflects that the journey for an emigrant can be difficult at times. “Nobody tells you that you won’t have Easter Sunday, Sunday dinners, Mother’s Day or your own birthday at home. People don’t think about these simple things but that’s the trade-off you have to make for the opportunities you pursue.” He enjoys life in Columbus, the 14th most populous city in the US (population around 940,000) which he says is a city that doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves. “It’s a major centre of business and enterprise and one of the reasons for that is Ohio State University, which is a real academic powerhouse. Ohio is quite representative of the wider mix of the US and is a swing state in elections. It’s also sports mad, with every major sport well represented here.” ‘The US still has a frontier mindset that you can go and make something of yourself’ The climate can be “brutal” in the winter months, with a lot of snow a wind-chill factor off the Great Lakes adding to already cold temperatures, but this is compensated for by beautiful summer and early autumn weather, he says. Reilly believes the US offers many opportunities for those wishing to follow in his footsteps, and his advice for young people is to have an open mind. “Say yes to more ideas. Don’t say ‘I don’t want to be involved in that sector,’ because when you are in your early 20s you don’t even know what that is. You should pursue things that there’s a good chance you’ll love. You want to be still walking with a pep in your step when you’re in your 50s and beyond.”