Shares in newly-listed wealth manager Hansard Global were trading at an 11 per cent premium on their debut yesterday. The firm’s founder...

Shares in newly-listed wealth manager Hansard Global were trading at an 11 per cent premium on their debut yesterday. The firm’s founder and chairman, Leonard Polonsky raised £103 million ($203 million) in the floatation but retains a 49 per cent stake worth around £194 million at current prices. Although based in the Isle of Man, Hansard has operations in Dublin and does most of its business online. According to the company, Hansard has no acquisitions plans and was not listing as a means to attract bidders, although the M&A market for asset managers is particularly strong at the moment. The company made a full-year pre-tax profit of £18.3 million in the year ended June, up from £13.1 million in 2005 and has £950 million in assets under management. Mr Polonsky founded insurance company, Liberty Life in 1970 but when he sold it to Lincoln National in 1994, he retained Hansard, the international unit.