Mariner looks to tap insto market
Bill Ireland’s Mariner Financial is turning to the institutional and wholesale funds management market after failing to gain significant traction in the retail space.
In the group’s annual report to shareholders, newly-appointed Mariner chairman Ian Winlaw said the group was steering away from the retail funds management market, with Ireland looking to the superannuation sphere as the way forward.
Ireland pointed to the growth in specialist boutique investment management funds aimed at the super and high-net-worth market. He believes “this market offers the company the best opportunity for growth and innovation”.
With the change in direction the group is also asking shareholders for approval to change its name from Mariner Financial to Mariner Corporation.
Mariner Corporation would consist of a “small, disciplined and well skilled” group of executives, Ireland said, with a focus on generating advisory fee income from creating wholesale structured transactions. Mariner has shrunk from 70 staff to just two full-time staff members over the past year.
The group will now look to create a “hub for investment products and capital, and a platform that offers licences, premises, infrastructure and back-office support, for a new generation of investment offerings”.
The group is preparing to launch an unlisted, closed-end wholesale property fund for international investors in the coming weeks.
Over the past 18 months the group has been selling assets to pay down debt as well as to find funds for day-to-day operations. As part of its focus on costs, the group is replacing audit firm KPMG with Hall Chadwick, a move Winlaw said reflected its smaller size.
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