Bramdean, the new institutional multi-manager business, has received approval from Dublin-based IFSRA for its range of UCIT open-ended funds.
The company, launched in January this year by chief executive Nicola Horlick, will initially offer 5 funds in its multi-manager range, covering UK and global equities as well as UK gilts, index-linked gilts and international bonds. It is appointing a small number of managers to each fund, with mandates to run high conviction portfolios.
Bramdean will offer its high alpha range of funds as individual, specialist funds to large institutional clients, as well as marketing the whole range as a complete service to smaller funds. It will focus on the UK initially, but has registered the funds in Dublin to accommodate European business at a future stage.
Bramdean’s business model has been designed in response to current market conditions. It believes that a multi-manager structure offers access to the best quality fund managers, while also controlling risk within a competitive charging structure. In the US, multi-manager businesses in the institutional and retail markets are an important part of the industry, running around $700bn of assets. Although there are multi-managers operating in the UK, their share of the institutional market is relatively small and Bramdean believes that there is room for a new, dynamic entrant with funds better tailored to current market needs.
Nicola Horlick said: “We have had an excellent initial response to the business and we are delighted that we can now go out and market our funds. We are extremely optimistic for the future.”
Bramdean is also launching a small number of in-house, single strategy funds, which will be targeted more at high net worth individuals. Tariq Rahman, who joined from Prudential, will run two property funds, while Andrew Green and Rachel Durkin, formerly with SG Asset Management, will run UK equity portfolios.
Nicola Horlick said: “Andrew and Tariq are exceptionally talented individuals and at Bramdean they will work in an environment where they have maximum freedom to exercise that talent to the full.”