Polar Capital acquires US value equity team
Will form new Phaeacian Partners
Polar Capital has announced the acquisition of the International Value and World Value equity team from First Pacific Advisors (FPA), subject to regulatory approval.
The move comes as Polar Capital continues to build out its UK and European wholesale franchises, adding to its recent acquisition of an emerging markets team in 2018.
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The two managers, Pierre Py and Gregg Herr, run around $1bn across three pooled vehicles and three institutional segregated accounts, of which their FPA Paramount fund and FPA International Value fund have achieved first quartile performance over three years.
Each fund currently managed by the team will be reorganised into a new US trust managed by Polar Capital, expected to be completed by third or fourth quarter.
The team is expected to establish a joint venture with the firm named Phaeacian Partners, which will operate under a separate branding but in line with the economics of Polar Capital's investment teams.
Gavin Rochussen, chief executive of Polar Capital, said: "This is a very exciting development for Polar Capital that begins to deliver our strategy to develop an international and global product, an institutional presence and to establish a Polar Capital North American bridgehead to complement our existing East coast presence.
"Pierre, Greg and their colleagues are precisely the type of team that we have been looking to recruit; a global and international equity team, deploying a fundamental value style of investing with an excellent track record, with existing institutional support and significant growth potential."
Py and Herr added: "We are delighted to have found in Polar Capital an organisation that is so complementary to us and our ambition.
"We look forward with excitement and confidence to growing a significant business with Polar Capital based upon our top performing, well-tested and long-term international and global equity investment processes."
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J. Richard Atwood, managing partner of FPA, said: "We are excited to have found Polar and to maintain a continued financial interest in the success of the International Value and World Value strategies.
"Polar's business model is the right fit for Pierre and Greg as they pursue growth with institutional and overseas investors."
This article was first published by InvestmentWeek, a sister title to InvestmentEurope.
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