Impax Asset Management is to buy the assets of fixed income manager Absalon Corporate Credit, subject to certain closing conditions.
Absalon, which is part of the Formuepleje Group based in Denmark, serves European institutional investors and Danish high net worth individuals.
The Absalon team was established by Klaus Blaabjerg, who, along with three portfolio management colleagues, is joining Impax as part of the deal.
It manages two fixed income strategies in global high yield (launched in 2006) and emerging market corporate debt (launched in 2010), which are available as Luxembourg-based SICAV funds and as Danish-based funds.
Blaabjerg, managing director at Absalon Corporate Credit, said: “We are excited by the opportunity to join the Impax team and leverage the firm’s extensive resources dedicated to investing in the transition to a more sustainable economy.
“This is particularly important given that our funds are now categorized as article 8 under SFDR.
“We believe that the credit markets are inefficient, which leaves many attractive opportunities for disciplined investors.”
Blaabjerg said the firm will continue to “exploit these inefficiencies” by actively selecting undervalued credits with high spreads relative to credit quality and default risk.
“We look forward to building on our successful track record and continuing to maintain our successful relationship with the Formuepleje team,” he said.
As of December 31, 2023, Absalon had approximately £351mn (€405mn) of assets under management.
As part of the deal, Impax has entered into an asset purchase agreement with the Formuepleje Group, an existing client and distribution partner of Impax.
Following completion of the deal, the Absalon portfolio managers will become part of Impax’s fixed income team, reporting to Ross Pamphilon, who in October 2023 was appointed as Impax’s head of fixed income.
The existing Impax fixed income team, which is based in the United States, currently runs US Investment Grade and US High Yield fixed income funds that are distributed to investors in North America.
Following acquisition, the combined global team will have fixed income assets under management and advice of approximately £1.6bn (€1.8bn) as of December 31, 2023.
Ian Simm, founder and chief executive at Impax, said: “This is an important step in the continued enhancement of our fixed income offering, which we have identified as a strategic priority as we aim to provide a wider range of solutions to our clients who are seeking to allocate to the transition to a more sustainable economy.
“The addition of this highly experienced team of credit managers, with a successful track record, will complement our existing fixed income capabilities, particularly in high yield.
“We value highly our 15-year relationship with Formuepleje, and we are delighted to use this opportunity to expand the partnership.”
Elsewhere, in its Q1 results, Impax said its assets under management totalled £39.1bn, up from £37,2bn in September.
This represented an increase of 4.6 per cent over the three-month period.
Simm said after more than 12 months of market headwinds, the investment performance of its principal strategies has strengthened.
“Although asset allocation decisions at some of our wholesale clients have led to net outflows this quarter, we’ve retained all our material client accounts and added some significant new ones, particularly in Europe,” he said.
“Looking ahead, we have a healthy pipeline of potential new business and see encouraging signs that the transition to a more sustainable economy is accelerating in many areas.
“To capitalise on Impax’s commercial opportunities we have recently seeded two new equity-oriented investment products and made material progress in the development of our fixed income franchise.”
sonia.rach@ft.com
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