16/06/2010 Author: Gwyn Roberts

GTD targets US with EU managed accounts

A Dublin-based managed accounts business targeting US managers constrained by draft EU regulation is gearing up for launch, HFMWeek can reveal, and is hoping to host assets close to $1bn by the end of its first year.

GTD Partners, backed by industry entrepreneur John Lowry, will open at the beginning of September as only the second platform to offer EU-regulated managed account structures. Currently, Innocap, a joint venture between BNP Paribas and the National Bank of Canada, provides EU-licensing for managed accounts via its Maltese hub.

As fears regarding European marketing restrictions, contained within the draft AIFM Directive, for non-EU funds grow, regulated European fund structures are picking up traction with a number of big-name US managers looking to mitigate business disruption.   

Reacting to the need to sidestep the potential impact of the AIFM, GTD will be marketed as a European-regulated product service, rather than a managed account platform, said Richard Day, the firm’s co-founder. The funds will be commingled and structured as Dublin Qualified Investor Funds (QIFs), although the main GTD business will be operated out of London and is waiting to receive its FSA certification.

Year-one targets are realistic, with Day saying that by the end of the platform’s initial 12 months, GTD is hoping to host between seven and ten managers, each holding $50-100m in AuM.  

Day and his team are currently in advanced negotiations with a number of US managers, although will also list European funds on the platform. “We are finalising the structure with a number of US managers and have completed about 80% of the work. Once we are up and running we will be able to offer European structuring, managed accounts and distribution,” said Day.

Funded by Lowry, the business will be complemented by a separately funded Ucits venture being launched by Lowry’s third-party marketing business, ML Capital. ML Capital’s Ucits business will also use Dublin as its licensing hub.

“There is demand for both, but they appeal to different clients,” said Day. “Managed accounts are capable of hosting funds and strategies that do not necessarily fit into the standard Ucits structure.”