Merchant Capital, the independent Ucits umbrella provider to the hedge fund industry, has formed a partnership with Altarius Group to provide lines of distribution across Austria and Germany for its stable of Ucits funds.

Merchant already has distribution agreements in place with a number of regional specialists in the UK, Spain, France, Scandinavia, Switzerland and Benelux enabling access to retail and institutional investor communities.
 
The Merchant platform will be registered for distribution across most European Union member states by the end of this year. This will facilitate Merchant’s distributors in being able to speak directly to investors, for example in Germany, where registration is a pre-requisite for distribution of funds.
 
Merchant will use Altarius, based in Munich, to offer its Ucits fund managers access to a broad investor network of high net worth individuals, private banks, institutional investors and independent asset managers.
 
Distribution at Altarius is led by Pierre Maliczak and Heinz Daxl, both of whom have extensive experience in European distribution and advisory services for alternative investments.
 
George Cadbury, head of business development, Merchant Capital, says: “Distribution is the most important component from a manager’s perspective; we continue to build a bespoke distribution programme in conjunction with our distribution partners all over the world. This is a different approach to our competitors, who have internalised their distribution capability. We believe that this is too restrictive for the client. Working with regional partners who have strong relationships with local investors provides the best value-add for our clients.”
 
Maliczak adds: “We offer Merchant a strong presence in Germany, a country very difficult to penetrate. In turn, the relationship with Merchant allows us to offer our clients a richer mix of alternative investment opportunities with a commitment to transparency backed by the Ucits brand.”