A quartet of infrastructure managers from Aviva Investors have followed their former boss Ian Berry to River and Mercantile as it preps to launch its own infrastructure business.
Allan Vlah, Fergus Helliwell, Anne Sophie Eveno and Dan Wilcockson will join Berry (pictured), who landed at River and Mercantile in January, over the coming months as they complete their contractual obligations to Aviva.
The team will launch an Infrastructure Equity Income fund, River and Mercantile’s first infrastructure investment initiative. The fund will aim to deliver long-term, stable cashflows to institutional clients by investing in “long-life infrastructure,” while also considering environmental, social and governance factors.
See also: River and Mercantile’s planned infrastructure ESG launch ‘hitting the right buttons’
“I am delighted that my former colleagues are joining me at River and Mercantile,” Berry said.
“We will all be working with the wider River and Mercantile team to ensure the timely launch of our first fund as we have a number of exciting projects underway and in development.”
ESG factors will be “at the heart” of Berry’s investment strategy for River and Mercantile. The fund will aim to combine sustainability of income for clients with the demands for new infrastructure to support the energy and digital transition required by the economy.
River and Mercantile said the investment strategy will provide “attractive financial returns while positively contributing to the world we live in.”
“Ian and his team have a proven track record in this competitive market, and I am delighted that we are able to reunite them in the development of our infrastructure business,” group chief executive James Barham said.
River and Mercantile, which has been chiefly known for its UK equities business, has been branching out into new areas over the last year. Last September, it launched its first European equity strategy managed by Schroders hire James Sym.
