LarrainVial Asset Management is set to acquire a 25% stake in Aubrey Capital Management through holding company LVCC, pending completion of the deal in the next few days.
Aubrey Capital Management will continue to have a majority employee ownership and current main shareholders and founders will stay within the firm. The boutique manager, which specialises in global equities and emerging markets, holds £744m assets under management.
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Andrew Ward, CEO of Aubrey Capital Management, said: “This is an extremely positive step for both firms that will result in a sharing and deepening of investment expertise and better access to distribution capability in the UK, US, Latin America and Europe.”
LarrainVial, which holds offices in Chili, Peru, Columbia, and the United States, has over $7bn (£5.53bn) assets under management, including investment funds, mutual funds, and portfolios. LarrainVial stated the partnership with Aubrey will help expand its emerging markets expertise.
The Aubrey Global Emerging Markets Opportunities strategy, which holds $301.6m in its Luxembourg-domiciled fund as of 12 January, has returned 47.5% over the past five years compared to a sector average of 13.2%, ranking eighth in the 128-strong sector. The fund also has domiciles in the UK and China with a combined AUM of $522.9m, according to FE Fundinfo data.
Ladislao Larrain, CEO of LarrainVial Asset Management, said: “It is very important for us to participate in the ownership of Aubrey, as it allows us to approach new markets and strengthen our international presence with a leading fund manager with almost 20 years of experience and an expert team in emerging markets.”
