Miton has hired fund manager Jim Wright as it attempts to cash in on the growing popularity of infrastructure equity with plans to launch a new vehicle by June next year.
Mr Wright joins from the British Steel Pension Fund where he was running mandates for the institution but will now bring his "proven track record of sustained performance" to the fund house.
Miton's new fund plans come after a surge in allocations to global infrastructure equities post-referendum. Along with the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote, fund buyers have noted infrastructure equity's ability to provide both liquidity and income. In addition, expectations of a return to expanding fiscal policy are growing amid the the ongoing impotence of loose monetary policy to boost global growth and inflation.
Despite having been a popular asset class with institutional investors for some time its popularity in the wholesale space has been limited. However, Legg Mason boutique, Rare Infrastructure, launched its global infrastructure equity fund on to UK investors on July 1 and saw strong demand securing over £50m of allocations in just three weeks.
Miton said its new vehicle to be managed by Mr Wright would be launched by the end of Q2 2017.
Chairman Ian Dighé said the fund was part of the group's "strategy to deliver differentiated funds that are tailored to our clients' requirements".
The news comes as Miton reported a fall in assets under management in the first six months of 2016. Outflows from the firm's UK Value Opportunities strategy after the departure of managers George Godber and Georgina Hamilton wiped out inflows into its investment trust business.
