Merchant will work with Altarius’s Munich-based arm, Altarius GmbH, which will offer Merchant’s UCITS fund managers “access to a broad investor network of high net worth individuals, private banks, institutional investors and independent asset managers”, Merchant said today in a statement announcing the agreement.
Merchant, a division of Merchant House Group, already has distribution agreements in place with a number of regional specialists in the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Scandinavia, Switzerland and the three Benelux countries.
As a result of the deal with Altarius, Merchant’s Dublin-domiciled platform will be registered for distribution across most European Union member states by the end of this year, Merchant said.
This will “complement Merchant’s strategy of helping its clients grow their asset base” as well as helping its distributors to “[be] able to speak directly to investors, for example in Germany, where registration is a pre-requisite for distribution of funds”, it added in its statement.
Cost-effective distribution
Like similar fund platforms, Merchant Capital’s is designed to provide investors with a cost-effective means of accessing the UCITS market.
It also enables asset managers to launch UCITS-compliant investment vehicles to the European market quickly and efficiently – typically in four to six weeks. the platform is also claimed to “significantly reduce” the high fees the launch process normally incurs, while at the same time, Merchant says, fulfilling “all necessary counterparty requirements”.
Maliczak and Daxl to head up distribution
At Altarius, distribution is being headed up by Pierre Maliczak and Heinz Daxl, who Merchant said were both experienced in the field of European distribution and advisory services for alternative investments.
Maliczak, who is president of Altarius Group, noted that his company’s “strong presence in Germany” would be particularly useful for Merchant because Germany is “a very difficult country to penetrate”.
“In turn, the relationship with Merchant allows us to offer our clients a richer mix of alternative investment opportunities, with a commitment to transparency backed by the UCITS brand.”
Merchant Capital’s head of business development, George Cadbury, noted that the company’s strategy of building a "bespoke" distribution network in conjunction with "distribution partners” around the world was different from that of its main competitors, who he said have internalised their distribution functions.
“We believe that this is too restrictive for the client,” he added.
“Working with regional partners who have strong relationships with local investors provides the best value-add for our clients.”
