Renaissance Asset Managers (RAM) has acquired the investment management mandate for two further Emerging European funds within Griffin Umbrella Fund plc with assets totalling USD116m. This development follows the acquisition of the Griffin Eastern European Fund with assets of USD252m, one of the oldest and best established funds in the emerging markets universe, announced in December 2011. Following this final transaction, total RAM assets under management will rise from USD2.4bn to USD2.8bn.
RAM is taking on takes on the management of the Griffin Ottoman Fund, a UCITS IV equities strategy with a focus on Turkey and broad Eastern European and MENA equity exposure, managed by Aziz Unan. Mr. Unan, who has managed the fund since its launch in January 2006, now joins Renaissance Asset Managers’ Emerging Europe team in London and will continue to manage the USD42m fund which will be renamed the Renaissance Ottoman Fund. In 2011, Unan was awarded two Gold Medals for excellent fund management in Equity South Eastern Europe by Sauren Fonds-Research AG.
RAM also takes on the Griffin Eastern European Value Fund which will be renamed Renaissance Eastern European Allocation Fund. This fund is a total return strategy investing in equities and fixed income across the region and has a 10 year track record of capturing upside and minimising capital loss. Robert Holmes has been running the USD74m fund since 2008 and will continue to do so at RAM.
This acquisition is another important milestone for RAM, as the funds are complementary to RAM’s existing portfolio of funds and core areas of expertise. It will commence distribution of these funds with its dedicated distribution team covering the UK, France, the Nordic region, Latin America, Spain, the Middle East and Russia, as well as building on the existing client base in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Unan says: “We are delighted to be joining Renaissance Asset Managers which now has the pre-eminent Emerging European equity fund management team.”
Holmes says: “We look forward to the enhanced access to distribution that Renaissance Asset Managers brings to a strategy that is well suited to family offices across Europe.”
Renaissance Asset Managers CIO, Plamen Monovski, says: “When we started this business, we set out to build the pre-eminent franchise in Eastern Europe. I am proud to be joined in London by such a strong team from Griffin. This latest acquisition makes Renaissance Asset Managers an unmatched proposition in terms of fund management strength and depth of resource in Eastern Europe.”
Adrian Harris, Head of Distribution at Renaissance Asset Managers, says: “This marks the concluding piece of our deal with Griffin. Having entered the UCITS fund business in October 2010, our combined UCITS assets of over USD570m gives us a top performing business with scale in our core Eastern European market. The UCITS business builds on our industry leading franchise in Russian infrastructure, our award winning Private Client business in Russia and our closed-end fund business.”
