Three key personnel from boutique research provider Sovereign Investment Research will join Mercer Investments as part of Mercer's strategy to create the "leading alternatives boutique in this region".
Sovereign managing director Ray King and his two associates Scott McNally and Sarah Azzi will join the company from Monday 2 July 2012, taking most of their existing client base along with them, Mercer has announced.
Their move complements Mercer's acquisition of Hammond Associates in the United States last year, and some of the other strategic hires the company said would build its alternatives boutique.
The core service Sovereign provided was research into market opportunities, manager and product assessments, portfolio management and implementation support.
King said Sovereign's clients who choose to move to Mercer would be able to leverage off Mercer's global and wider local research, as well as advice and portfolio solutions.
King will continue to be based in Melbourne, reporting to the global leader of Mercer's alternatives boutique, while McNally and Azzi will move to Mercer's Sydney office.
Mercer is the second research house in Australia to announce a bigger focus on alternatives, with van Eyk Research recently announcing a similar strategy.
