The team behind Chelverton Asset Management is to realise a “long harboured ambition” to launch a firm dedicated to investing in private companies, it revealed on Friday.
As such, it has spun off its existing private capital business into a company called Macaulay Capital, which launched on the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE) on 29 July.
Chelverton founder and managing director David Horner has been named CEO of Macaulay Capital in addition to his current role. Having led many of Chelverton’s unquoted deals in recent years, Richard Bucknell has been named CIO. He joined the company in 2014 as an investment director.
“Macaulay Capital creates an opportunity for high-net-worth individuals, family offices and others to co-invest in a series of deals, alongside some of the industry’s most seasoned professionals,” the company said.
Chelverton chairman Tim Saunders added: “Our unquoted business has introduced many investment opportunities to Investor Club members through the years, across a range of service-related companies. However, we have never fully realised our ambitions, or developed our activities in this area, as a fully-fledged stand-alone business.
“The unquoted business is today a relatively minor part of our overall activities. That is in part down to the consistent and significant growth we have enjoyed in our core funds business, which has grown exponentially over the last five years.
“Our focus has been on building appropriate infrastructure around that business, to create a truly sustainable platform, and we have invested heavily, recruiting a new generation of managers to work alongside David Horner, Dave Taylor, and James Baker.
“We have given careful consideration to this juxtaposition, and with David Horner keen to manage a standalone business dedicated to investing in private companies, we resolved that Chelverton should move to a simpler position, where its only activities are in the management of quoted funds.”
Founded in 1998, Chelverton is a specialist investor in sub-FTSE 100 listed equities, Aim traded companies and SMEs.
With more than £2bn of assets under management, it is home to a number of funds; including MI Chelverton UK Equity Income, MI Chelverton UK Equity Growth, MI Chelverton European Select, Chelverton UK Dividend Trust and Chelverton Growth Trust.
See also: Chelverton adds assistant manager to UK Equity Growth fund
