Ascend Asset Management collapses
NSX-listed asset manager Ascend Group ceased trading on October 31, according to an NSX announcement by chairman Alan Beasley yesterday.
Beasley said the board of Ascend, which offered two retail investment funds — the MPS Resources Fund and the Escalation Fund — had “resolved to cease trading effective 31 October to ensure no further liabilities are incurred”.
The decision was made “in response to the combination of the costs and structural complexities associated with managing registered funds and the difficulty [of raising] funds in the current financial market”, he said.
“Ascend’s board has been exploring and considering restructure options for the Ascend Group over the past month, (but) unfortunately all explored options are unable to be pursued at this point in time.
“The Ascend board is disappointed with the impact the deterioration of the financial markets has had on the performance of its funds management business.”
Calls by Money Management to Beasley, who was accompanied on the board by group executive director Peter LeMessurier, were not returned by the time of going to press.
Barry Dawes, managing director of Sydney-based boutique resources investment firm Martin Place Securities, which sub-managed the MPS Resources Fund, referred Money Management’s enquiries to Beasley.
It is understood that Ascend, which was established in 2005 in Sydney as a wholly-owned Australian company, employed about 25 staff in total.
The company, which also has a corporate advisory and fund raising arm, Ascend Corporate, announced a voluntary trading halt through the NSX on September 30 this year.
On October 27 this year it announced the resignation of directors Michael Brown and Nicholas Andrews and on October 27 it changed its registered address and place of principal business.
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