Mirabaud Investment Management's closure to new business welcomed

HSBC Investments applauds the move by Mirabaud Investment Management (MIM), the UK equity specialist boutique fund manager, to close its doors to new investment.

MIM, part of Swiss private bank Mirabaud Group, recently announced that it now has record funds under management of £2.5 billion, with net gains of £700m during 2006.

Rather than continuing to gather assets, the group has chosen to consolidate this strong growth in funds under management and focus upon maintaining good performance.

HSBC Investments is among MIM’s clients. In November 2006, HSBC Investments announced that Mirabaud was one of three underlying groups chosen to manage the £1.1 billion HSBC UK Growth & Income fund. Mirabaud’s highly-experienced team manages 40% of the HSBC UK Growth & Income fund. Other managers selected for this fund include GMO and Edinburgh Partners.

James Hughes, Head of MultiManager at HSBC Investments in the UK, said: “Mirabaud’s talent in stock picking and alpha generation clearly stood out when HSBC Investments’ MultiManager team was searching the market to identify the very best UK equity fund managers. We are further encouraged by Mirabaud’s decision to close to new business. This demonstrates the group’s commitment to maintaining performance for existing clients, rather than merely increasing fee revenue though asset gathering."

Andy Clark, Head of Wholesale at HSBC Investments, added: “Mirabaud’s investment process is not directly available to retail investors. However, despite Mirabaud’s closing to new business, the HSBC UK Growth & Income fund provides a route for advisers and private investors to access the skills of this highly-talented team of UK equity fund managers.”