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Two Asset Management Firms Merge In Canada
Toronto-based Arrow Capital Management has completed its previously-announced acquisition of BluMont Capital from Integrated Asset Management.
Toronto-based Arrow Capital Management has completed its previously-announced acquisition of BluMont Capital from Integrated Asset Management.
BluMont was IAM's retail alternative asset management subsidiary that provided mutual funds and other products to retail investors, primarily through the Exemplar Portfolio of funds. BluMont had some $260 million in assets under management as at end-August 2013.
James McGovern, chief executive of Arrow, and Robert Maxwell, chief financial officer of Arrow, are now CEO and CFO of Toronto-based BluMont, respectively.
McGovern and Maxwell have also joined Veronika Hirsch on BluMont’s board of directors. The trio are now the officers and directors of the Exemplar Portfolios, which includes the Exemplar Canadian Focus Portfolio class of shares and the Exemplar Diversified Portfolio class of shares. Meanwhile, the independent review committee for the Exemplar Funds has been re-constituted with members Ross MacKinnon, Ronald Riley and John Anderson.
Arrow said in a statement that all of the portfolio managers and advisors, including Hirsch, Alex Ruus, Capital Innovations and Integrated Managed Futures, will continue to provide services to their respective funds.
“The combined platforms will provide investors with greater investment choices, an improved level of service, and the expectation of a decrease in costs based on the capacity of a larger company,” Arrow said.
As previously reported, the sale of BluMont to Arrow means that Integrated Asset Management can now focus on its institutional business. IAM said it intends to build on its core asset classes of real estate and private corporate debt by rolling out new products and asset classes.
“Despite the exceptional investment track record of all BluMont funds, and in particular those funds managed by Veronika Hirsch and Alex Ruus, the challenging retail environment led us to the decision to combine BluMont with a larger high quality alternative asset company; particularly one with whom we can have a relationship going forward with other products,” Victor Koloshuk, chairman and CEO of IAM, said in September.
Arrow is an employee-owned company focused on alternative asset management and manager selection. The firm has $1.2 billion in assets under management, including its joint venture with Generation Asset Management in London.
