22/06/2011 Author: Tony Griffiths

Merrill Lynch Ucits platform surpasses $2bn

Ucits platform Merrill Lynch Investment Solutions (MLIS) has passed $2bn in assets under management (AuM), stretching its lead as the largest hedge fund umbrella of its type in the world, HFMWeek can reveal.    

According to Miriam Muller, director of Merrill Lynch’s Fund Platform Group, MLIS reached the milestone in April, not long after on-boarding new funds from AQR and Och-Ziff Capital Management in February. Current AuM is $2.3bn in 13 Ucits-compliant hedge funds.

Infrastructural costs and distributional shortcomings have narrowed the pool of managers capable of launching a Ucits vehicle on their own, driving an increasing amount of business towards Ucits platforms, where economies of scale make partnerships an attractive option.     

“Our sales team continues to broaden our relationships with all investor types across Europe,  paying particular attention to the development of our retail business. We are also seeing the beginning of inflows from Asia and we expect this segment to continue to grow,” Muller told HFMWeek.

MLIS has a further six confirmed mandates in the pipeline with strategies including merger arbitrage, liquid emerging credit, liquid distressed and foreign exchange. The firm’s aim is to have 20 funds by the end of the year and is looking at a number of options, such as macro, credit and China long/short equity.

The industry’s second-largest dedicated hedge fund Ucits platform, Schroder GAIA, breached the $1bn AuM mark earlier this month, with the addition of Schroder GAIA CQS Credit, the platform’s fifth sub-fund.