The funds and employees will be absorbed by Crux once regulatory approvals have been received, which is anticipated to be at the end of January.
The investment company with variable capital (ICVC) will change its name from CFIC Funds ICVC to CFIC Crux Funds ICVC. The three funds under the Oriel umbrella will be rebranded as CFIC Crux Global Fund, CFIC Crux European Fund and CFIC Crux UK Fund.
Patrick Barton and Jamie Ward will continue to manage the CFIC Crux UK Fund, while Richard Scrope will manage the CFIC Crux Global Fund and the CFIC Crux European Fund. The investment strategy of the funds will remain the same. The funds are managed on a bottom-up basis and are unconstrained by benchmarks.
The FP Crux European Special Situations and FP Crux European funds will continue to be managed by Richard Pease (pictured) and James Milne supported by Roland Grender, and will see no changes to their process, philosophy or mandates.
Crux CEO Alistair Reid said: “The transfer of Oriel’s funds and team to Crux represents an excellent cultural and corporate fit for both businesses. It was important to us to bring in a team whose long-term performance mirrors the sustained outperformance of the Crux European Special Situations and Crux European funds. We have enormous respect for the whole team at Oriel Asset Management and we look forward to welcoming them to the company.”
“We view this outcome as a significant step forward for our investors, our funds and our staff, said Barton. “Crux is fully committed to maintaining the integrity of our existing philosophy and process, and we will benefit from Crux’s investment expertise and marketing capabilities.”
City Financial chief executive Andrew Williams added: “We believe Crux is an ideal partner for the Oriel fund team. The transfer of investment manager will allow them to leverage Crux’s proven investment expertise and represents a good client outcome.”
