Maple-Brown Abbott brings two funds in-house

 Maple-Brown Abbott (MBA) has acquired management rights for two MBA funds from Advance Asset Management, although Advance will continue as the responsible entity of the funds.

MBA has been the investment manager of the MBA Imputation Fund since its inception in 1986, and similarly, the MBA Australian Geared Equity Fund since 2002, but will now be responsible for the distribution of the funds to investors and third party intermediaries, said MBA head of Australian equities and portfolio manager for these funds, Dougal Maple-Brown.

All client service functions such as client reporting and the call centre will remain with Advance over the medium term, MBA stated.

MBA has also appointed Ironbark Asset Management to provide wholesale distribution services for the funds, and Ironbark chief executive Chris Larsen said the firm will soon be bolstering the size of its account management team servicing financial advisers.

"Our relationship with Advance has been a long and successful one, and we are very appreciative of their efforts in growing these two retail funds," said Maple-Brown.

"However, as their focus is now on the suite of Advance multi-blend funds, the move is well timed for both companies. We are confident this will be a seamless transition for all stakeholders, and that Ironbark will provide a high level of service to advisers who currently support the funds and grow the interest in them," he said.