Argonaut Capital Partners, the UK-based investment boutique which had been in a joint venture with Ignis Asset Management since 2005, has moved to take 60 per cent control of the business, the firms announced yesterday.  

The move will enable “Argonaut to develop as an independent business, under a single brand and with dedicated management”, a statement said.

“Argonaut will expand its investment team and management resource and develop its own UK distribution capability. Ignis will continue to distribute Argonaut’s funds in continental Europe,” it continued.

To ensure Argonaut can transfer to its status as a “standalone” business, its founders, Barry Norris and Olly Russ will hire a chief operating officer, the statement said. The transition is designed to take place over the next 12 months.

Ignis’ interest in Argonaut will form part of Ignis Partners, an Ignis business unit set up last year to hold, support and develop its boutique investments. Ignis Partners also holds investments in Hexam, an emerging markets boutique, which transitioned to a similar structure in July 2010 and Castle Hill Asset Management, the specialist credit investment manager, which was established along equivalent lines when the business was launched in January 2010.

Argonaut manages £1.1 billion (around $1.81 billion) for institutional and retail clients; it manages six funds and a number of European segregated portfolios. Ignis Asset Management has £76 billion of assets under management. It is the asset management business of The Phoenix Group, a UK consolidator of closed life assurance funds.