Ignis boosts European presence with Allfunds deal

Ignis Asset Management's international fund range will be made available through leading European platform Allfunds Bank from the end of April. The move will provide institutional and professional fund investors across Europe with further access to Ignis' proprietary funds as well as those from Ignis' joint venture boutiques - Argonaut (European equities), Cartesian (UK equities), HEXAM (global emerging markets) and Maia (multi-manager).

Ignis currently manages approximately £70 billion of assets on behalf of UK and international investors, and provides best-in-breed investment management for its retail, institutional, and life company clients. Ignis' unique structure and strong capital base are enabling the company to build on its success in Europe at a time when many asset managers are retrenching.

Key Ignis joint venture boutique funds that will appear on the Allfunds platform include: the Ignis International Argonaut European Dividend Income Fund, the Ignis International Argonaut European Alpha Fund, the Ignis International HEXAM Global Emerging Markets Fund and the Ignis International Cartesian UK Equity 130/30 Fund. Funds managed by Ignis' experienced proprietary specialists will also be available. The proprietary teams cover: European equities, UK equities, US equities, Asian Pacific equities, global equities, fixed income and property.

The Allfunds Bank platform is the largest third-party mutual fund platform in Europe with over €35 billion on the platform. It has operations in Spain, Italy, Latin America, Luxembourg, and the UK and offers over 10,500 funds from more than 200 asset management houses.

Jonathan Polin, director at Ignis, commented: "We are delighted that our funds will now appear on Allfunds' leading platform, giving the top institutional distributors across Europe further access to our comprehensive range of funds. The platform's ability to host web-based monitoring tools, such as fund reports, portfolio look-through, and performance reports, will be a massive step towards familiarising distributors with our unique offering as we look to develop our presence in Spain and Italy, two of our key target markets."

Allfunds, which is jointly owned by Spanish bank Santander and Italian bank Sanpaolo, launched in 2000 with the aim of distributing funds across Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Allfunds became available in Italy in 2004 when Sanpaulo came on board and in the UK in 2005. Since 2005, assets on the platform have grown from €20 billion to €35 billion.