INVESTMENT administration giant Maitland has gained a foothold in Scotland with the acquisition of the Edinburgh-based R&H Fund Services operation, whose directors include prominent veterans of the country’s fund management industry.
Maitland bought the business from the Jersey-based R&H fund administration firm for an undisclosed sum under a global expansion drive.
The acquisition will give Maitland control of a unit that provides investment administration and secretarial services with a focus on the investment trust sector.
The directors of the Edinburgh business include Michael Woodward who was on the board of Ivory & Sime the blue-blooded investment manager which was once one of the biggest names in the Scottish business. The office is led by another Ivory & Sime veteran Martin Cassels.
The deal provides a vote of confidence on the part of Malta-registered Maitland in Scotland as a centre of fund management and the specialist administration services required to support investment firms.
Maitland entered the UK in 2015 with the acquisition of Essex-based Phoenix Fund Services. It recently opened offices in Miami and New York.
Chief executive Steve Georgala said: “Given its importance as a regional financial centre, Edinburgh presented itself as a logical next step in our ambitious global growth programme.”
Mr Georgala said the R&H business provided an ideal base from which to bring the wider Maitland offering to the Scottish market, adding: “We believe that our combined strengths will open up significant opportunities for growth.”
Mr Cassels expects Maitland will provide support to enable the business he leads to make the most of the growth opportunities it sees.
Noting the potential for consolidation among smaller fund administration business, he said the Edinburgh business also sees scope to win work from bigger rivals. The increasing complexity of regulation is encouraging new investment firms to out-source administration work.
Mr Cassels was head-hunted by R&H in 2011 to lead a push into the investment trust sector. The Edinburgh business services eight funds, with £2bn assets under administration in total. Clients include Scottish Investment Trust.
Maitland said the eight employees of the Edinburgh business will remain in post.
A qualified chartered accountant, Mr Cassels spent 21 years in investment administration at Ivory & Sime and successor firms before joining R&H Fund Services.
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