North Investment Partners founder John Husselbee has said the “huge” regulatory burden he faced was a key factor in his decision to sell the firm to Liontrust.
Liontrust announced yesterday that it was to buy North and its assets for a nominal fee of £1, with Mr Husselbee becoming the FTSE-listed fund manager’s head of multi-asset.
“We were a small business in an environment in which the regulatory burden was getting greater for everyone,” he said.
“I found myself doing more on business management than investment management. To do a good job for investors we needed a partner or company with bigger and deeper resources. At Liontrust the fund managers get on with the fund management.”
So far in 2013 North has increased the assets in its wealth management business from £40m to more than £100m, Mr Husselbee said, but this could have been more had he not been forced to put more resources into dealing with regulators.
Although the firm’s assets under management have increased, in 2012 North Investment Partners recorded a loss before tax of more than £400,000, compared with a 2011 profit of £150,000 before tax.
