Merlon Capital Partners, which was founded in 2010, is already majority-owned by its principals, but Fidante held a strategic stake in the business, the size of which was not disclosed.
Fidante will remain as the responsible entity of its MCP Australian Share Income Fund, Merlon Australian Equity Fund, Merlon Australian Share Income Fund, and Merlon Concentrated Australian Share Fund. It will also continue to provide fund operation compliance services.
However, certain corporate services, such as corporate compliance support services, will now transition to Merlon instead.
There is no change to how the funds are managed or to the investment team.
In a LinkedIn post, Merlon chief executive Neil Margolis said the move would help the firm fully align with its investment products.
“This change fully aligns our investment team with our investment philosophy and primary objective of delivering long-term investment performance. Fidante will continue to support us with retail distribution and investment operations.”
A spokesperson for Fidante said: “We support Merlon’s decision to acquire our minority interest in the firm. We remain committed to maintaining continuity and stability for investors and will continue to provide retail distribution, responsible entity and investment operations services under renewed agreements.”
Fidante has stakes in multiple investment firms across global equity, fixed income and alternatives including Impax Asset Management, Alphinity Investment Management, Challenger Investment Management and Kapstream Capital.
Earlier this year, Merlon portfolio manager Andrew Fraser appeared on the Relative Return podcast where he discussed setting up the business in the wake of the global financial crisis (GFC).
“We look at those big moments that disrupted the market like the GFC and COVID-19 as being pivotal points. The reality is investing and not knowing what’s in the future is always challenging and comes with a degree of stress. It’s always something new to deal with, but it’s very rewarding, even in times when the fund’s performance in certain markets is not conducive to our style and philosophy.
“In the last four years, especially, sticking true to our philosophy and process and seeing investors rewarded with exceptional returns is ultimately the prize for us.”
