Merchant House Group Plc
Launch of Merchant Astor Long/Short UCITS Fund
under Merchant Capital's UCITS Umbrella
Merchant House Group Plc (the "Company") announces that Merchant Capital Ltd ("Merchant"), the asset management division of Merchant House Group Plc, has launched the Merchant Astor Long/Short UCITS Fund on its independent UCITS umbrella platform. The fund officially declared its 3 month Initial Opening Period ('IOP') on 12 January 2012; the IOP may be closed earlier by the directors of the Fund subject to the level of investment.
Merchant's UCITS umbrella structure allows asset managers to launch UCITS-compliant investment vehicles, whereby Merchant will be responsible for ensuring that all UCITS rules are met with confidence. With Merchant's recent acquisitions in both the Structured Product and Independent Financial Advisor sector, Merchant can also offer clients such as Astor a distribution plan.
The Merchant Astor Long/Short UCITS Fund aims to follow (adjusted for the requirements of the rules of UCITS) the strategy of an existing product managed by Astor Asset Management LLC, the Astor Long/Short ETF Fund, a US-based mutual fund that was launched in October 2009. The strategy follows a global investment approach implemented predominantly through a portfolio investing in or gaining exposure to Exchange Traded Funds.
By launching on the Merchant Capital platform the fund will benefit from being an onshore, regulated UCITS structure with weekly liquidity. The Merchant Astor Long/Short UCITS Fund is available to both institutional and retail investors in US dollar, euro, and sterling share classes with a minimum investment of 100,000 (USD, EUR, GBP) for institutions and 20,000 for the professional retail investor.
Astor Asset Management LLC has been appointed as sub-manager to the Fund. Astor has assets under management in the region of USD1 billion, is part of the Knight Capital Group Inc. which was founded in 1995 and is listed on NYSE Euronext.
Commenting on the launch of the fund, George Cadbury, Director of Asset Management for Merchant, said:
"The consistent growth of our UCITS platform is extremely exciting. We continue to seek innovative strategies alongside partners with great track records. Astor is one such firm which we believe can successfully replicate its US mutual fund in an onshore regulated structure."
Christopher Day, CEO of Merchant House Group plc, added:
We are optimistic that this fund will be attractive to investors and will be an asset to Merchant Capital's rapidly expanding fund management business."
Enquiries:
Merchant House Group plc +44 (0) 20 7332 2200
Christopher Day, CEO
James Holmes, Chairman
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP +44 (0) 20 7148 7900
Tony Rawlinson / Avi Robinson
Symvan Securities +44 (0) 20 7464 4260
Kealan Doyle / Nicholas Nicolaides
CityRoad Communications +44 (0) 207 248 8010
Paul Quade
About Merchant Capital's UCITS Platform
Merchant Capital, which is authorised and regulated by the FSA in the UK, built a UCITS umbrella structure domiciled in Dublin and launched in January 2010. Coupled with the extensive experience of its management team, clients are supported by some of the industry's leading service providers whilst being provided with a cost-effective entrée to the UCITS market. Merchant has extensive structuring, investment management and systems expertise.
As investment manager of the UCITS Umbrella, Merchant will appoint the client as adviser or sub-manager of a sub-fund ("Cell"). This Cell will be managed according to the client's instructions whilst Merchant manages the oversight, administrative, processing and regulatory functions. Independent trustees are appointed: a UCITS requirement and also a due diligence prerequisite for many investors.
http://www.merchant-capital.com/
About Astor Asset Management
Astor Asset Management provides investment advisory services. Astor believes its proprietary macroeconomic model keeps its investment strategies on the cutting edge of the industry. Formed by former Federal Reserve analyst Robert Stein, Astor Asset Management LLC, a subsidiary of Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE Euronext: KCG), it specializes in constructing portfolios of exchange-traded funds, available to investors through both separate accounts and mutual funds.
