Richard Buxton, fund manager and chief executive of the recently renamed Merian Global Investors, has outlined the five year plan he has for the business.
Mr Buxton said at its launch event in London yesterday (3 October) a key area of future growth for the company will come from products that invest in alternative assets, while extra resource has also been deployed into ethical sustainable and governance (ESG) research.
He said there were several new investment products in the pipeline for the firm.
Mr Buxton said he was focused on a five year plan, with an exit for the private equity owners coming at some point after that, "but if that’s seven years from now, no problem, or nine years, no problem".
Mr Buxton, a former Schroders and Barings fund manager, initially joined Old Mutual Global Investors as manager of the firm's UK Alpha fund, and later became chief executive of the business.
Last year he joined with colleagues and the private equity firm TA Associates to complete a £550m management buyout of the business, and rename it Merian Global Investors.
TA Associates have previously backed a management buyout of asset manager Jupiter from its parent company.
Mr Buxton’s fellow fund managers Ian Heslop, Dan Nickols, Richard Watts, and Amadeo Alentorn have also taken ownership stakes in the company, with employees in every other part of the business having a stake in the future growth of the company.
He said the agreement to buy and rebrand the business was the culmination of "a year of work", but that it had been on his mind for the past two and a half years.
Mr Buxton said he had "no other investment except the money I have in this business and in my fund".
His Merian Investors UK Alpha fund has returned 36 per cent over the past five years. Each of the fund manager's who have taken a stake in the business run large equity portfolios.
david.thorpe@ft.com
