Managed account specialists Armytage Private and Ralton Asset Management will merge their businesses to gain the scale needed to target the financial planning market and eventually institutional investors.
The firms would join forces on 1 July and have a combined $350 million in funds under management (FUM), with investment capabilities spanning separately managed accounts, individually managed accounts and managed funds, Ralton managing director Damian Holland said.
"It is certainly going to improve our position with the research houses and asset consultants in having a strong balance sheet, more FUM and a deeper investment team," Holland said.
"Culturally, the two businesses are a very strong match, sharing a common investment philosophy and a fundamental, research-driven approach to investing developed over many years.
"This is a powerful alliance, with the Armytage-Ralton combination giving us great leadership, a deeper analyst pool and broader capabilities across the investment team."
Upon completion of the merger, Ralton will become a subsidiary of Armytage, with the combined business majority owned by the investment team and key executives.
The chief executive of the combined entity will be announced after 1 July.
Armytage Private executive chairman Lee IaFrate said the combined business would benefit from the significant economies of scale gained from the increase in FUM and synergies in investing, management and distribution.
"We are well resourced both financially and intellectually, and the merger now gives us the scale and an exceptional depth of experience to drive strong growth and profitability," IaFrate said.
"We now have the framework in place to expand the Armytage footprint across the financial planning community as well as the institutional market."
He said there would be no material changes to the product line-up, with all of the Australian equity strategies managed in line with the group's relative value approach.
