Ascalon ramps up boutique equity stakes
St George Bank-owned Ascalon Capital Managers has acquired an equity stake of up to 46 per cent in Alleron Investment Management to bring the number of boutique fund managers it holds an equity position in to seven.
Established by Albert Hung and Barry Littler in July this year, Alleron is a specialist domestic equities manager with a strong growth bias, relying heavily on stock specific risk for its expected performance.
Ascalon will progressively inject capital into Alleron over a three-year period via a series of equity tranches, and also provide close support on all aspects of the business, according to Ascalon’ chief executive Ray De Lucia.
He said Ascalon had identified Alleron as an “emerging leader in the next generation of fund management organisations” with the right attributes to “grow quickly”.
“It has a very experienced team, a robust investment process, and a comprehensive staff equity scheme that provides a competitive edge.”
As a member of the St George Group, Ascalon assists in the commercialisation and development of boutique managers it deems to be future leaders in the funds management industry.
In April this year it took out a 25 per cent equity stake in Victoria-based boutique fund manager First Samuel, bringing to six its equity positions in boutique managers.
Other managers in which Ascalon has invested include Australian Ethical Investment, MacarthurCook Funds Management, Investment Management Services, Jenkins Investment Management, and Hawkesbridge.
Alleron chief executive Barry Littler said Ascalon’s financial support was “very welcome”, as would be its “assistance with business processes such as corporate governance, compliance and risk management”.
Littler said Alleron’s association with Ascalon and the St George Group would give it an “opportunity to create a funds management company combining the inherent advantages of a boutique with the strengths of an established institution”.
Alleron is to appoint St George general manager investments and insurance Nick Basile and Ascalon senior investment manager Lisa Rigby to its board.
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