Liontrust Asset Management Plc., the specialist independent fund management group has purchased the entire issued share capital of Alliance Trust Investments Limited (ATI) for a total consideration of around £30 million. The acquisition of ATI, including 11 sustainable investment funds managed by the ATI Investment Team, is attractive to Liontrust for a number of reasons:

• The acquisition of ATI is expected to increase Liontrust’s assets under management by approximately £2.3 billion to more than £8 billion. This will broadens distribution opportunities for both Liontrust and ATI and will expand Liontrust’s client base further in both the UK and internationally.
• This is a highly complementary acquisition that enhances Liontrust’s fund management capability.
• ATI provides Liontrust with a strong proposition in sustainable investment as well as being very experienced and a highly respected fund management team.
• It is a good time for Liontrust to diversify into this investment style because of the opportunities that the UK retail, institutional and European markets offer sustainable investment funds.

The ATI Investment Team will continue to manage all the Sustainable Future and Ethical funds with the same mandate and process that they have been using.

John Ions, Chief Executive of Liontrust, said: “We have been very impressed by Peter Michaelis and the team at ATI. They will be an excellent addition to our seven teams as they are very experienced, have a clear and robust investment process and have shown that sustainable investment can provide strong investment returns as well as meeting investors’ values.

“The team brings with it a broad range of existing equity and fixed income funds and a long-term track record: Peter was at Aviva Investors as Head of Sustainable and Responsible Investment, for 11 years before moving to ATI in August 2012.

“There is strong demand for sustainable investment in the UK and internationally. Increasingly, consumers expect the companies they use to be socially responsible and the demand for sustainable investment will only grow with the rise of millennials. The acquisition of ATI puts us in a very strong position to meet this demand and we look forward to promoting the team and their funds in the UK and across continental Europe.”

Peter Michaelis said: “We have been attracted to Liontrust by the culture of the company and the environment provided for fund managers. We will continue to focus on running money according to our own investment process, in which we look for well managed companies that have good business fundamentals and which we believe the market undervalues.

“Liontrust will provide the team and investors with long-term stability. We have also been impressed by the strength of Liontrust’s brand profile and its distribution capability. This is a very important consideration for us as we look to raise the profile of the team and build on our impressive long-term investment performance.”

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