Merchant Capital Limited, the financial services division of Merchant House Group plc, is set to launch five new funds on its Dublin-domiciled, UCITS III umbrella structure.

Five investment managers from around the world, all specialising in alternative investing, have chosen the Merchant Funds’ platform to launch their first UCITS III-compliant funds. The new funds, which are due to launch before 1 September 2011, will each have between USD25m to USD100m of assets under management. The funds will cover a variety of strategies from a US-based Exchange Traded Fund to a Russian Equity Long/Short fund.

The Merchant Funds’ UCITS platform is one of the largest global independent platforms providing investment managers with a seamless and cost-effective vehicle for running their own UCITS III funds, coupled with building a suitable distribution programme. Merchant Capital is also one of the few platforms that employs a pre-trade compliance system due to heightened concerns about funds’ abilities to operate within the UCITS rules.

Merchant Capital Limited, Director of Asset Management, George Cadbury, says: “These new launches reflect the growing popularity of UCITS III compliant products by global investment managers. However, setting up a UCITS III product independently can be an expensive and labour-intensive endeavour and we are seeing more and more interest in our platform solution owing to our reduced costs and quicker time-to-market.”