Mariner Financial chairman steps down

Mariner Financial’s managing director, Bill Ireland, has stepped down as chairman of the board, with two new director appointments also announced.

Ian Winlaw and Denis Pidcock have joined Mariner as non-executive board directors, replacing Alan Stockdale and Denis Heaney, who both resigned last month. Ireland will remain as an executive director on the board.

Mariner said the appointments were part of the company’s strategy to move away from the costly retail funds management sector, saying the board’s skills were being aligned with the exit strategy.

“Our plan is to assemble collective investment structures for high-net-worth individuals,” Ireland said, noting the distinction in costs between the retail funds and wholesale funds management sectors.

The company said in its June market update that it would also be amassing a “small team of executives to identify new investment opportunities as market conditions improve”. Ireland said Mariner was not looking at any particular opportunity at this stage, but the plan would involve a small, scaled down team aimed at identifying prospects for high-net-worth individuals.

The company said it is effectively exiting from “all core retail funds management activities” with the sale of management rights to satellite funds and equity stakes in funds.

Mariner’s business model suffered when market conditions deteriorated, which led to a marked drop in market valuations of the company’s diverse and leveraged asset portfolio. Mariner said the “dramatic slide in market valuations” led to a “rapid disposal of assets to reduce liabilities”.

The company has paid off the majority of its debt, with $600,000 outstanding. Staff numbers are down to eight from 70.