Wren Sterling’s discretionary fund management (DFM) business, Magnus, has launched three funds for clients of the group’s financial planners: the IFSL Magnus Max 35% Equity Fund, the IFSL Magnus Max 60% Equity Fund and the IFSL Magnus Max 85% Equity Fund.
The three multi-asset funds complement Magnus’s managed portfolio solutions (MPS) range, which manages more than £1 billion of assets for Wren Sterling clients. The funds have launched with around £50m of assets in each.
The Lead Manager is Rory McPherson, Chief Investment Officer at Magnus, and he is supported by Deputy Manager Georgina Ogilvie-Jones. The pair already manage the Magnus MPS range.
Magnus has appointed the Marlborough Group’s Investment Fund Services (IFSL) as the funds’ authorised corporate director (ACD), providing oversight to help protect the best interests of investors and with ultimate regulatory responsibility to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The Wren Sterling Group employs more than 130 financial planners across the UK, serving over 20,000 clients and with around £11.8 billion* of assets under management, including those managed by Magnus.
James Twining, Magnus CEO and Wren Sterling Group CEO, said:
“We’re very excited about the launch of our new multi-asset funds, which are a logical extension of the Magnus product range. For many clients a multi-asset fund will be the most appropriate solution, and Magnus will now be able to meet this need – and with very competitive costs.
“We believe the launch of the funds is an important step, which will enable us to provide even greater support for Wren Sterling’s financial planners and, in turn, accelerate the growth of Magnus.
“IFSL and the wider Marlborough Group are well-respected names in the industry. However, appointing an ACD is an important decision, and we held a series of meetings with the IFSL team and took references from a number of their clients before making our decision.
“We believe IFSL are strongly positioned to support Magnus in the next chapter of our growth story. Just as importantly, we believe the culture at IFSL is such that our two businesses will be able to work together very successfully. Both assessments have proved accurate so far, and we’ve been highly impressed by the expertise of the IFSL team and the support they’ve provided.”
Martin Ratcliffe, Co-CEO of Investment Fund Services, said:
“The role of the ACD is an important one, and we’re very pleased to have been selected by Magnus to help them launch their new funds. With the funds now live, we’ll continue to work closely with them, providing expertise and oversight to help safeguard the best interests of the funds’ investors.
“We take our responsibilities as ACD very seriously, providing not only robust oversight and governance but also guidance and support at every stage in the process of designing, launching and successfully operating funds.
“As a group, we’re committed to working with like-minded businesses to support their growth by helping them deliver first-class outcomes for their clients. We’re looking forward to a long-term partnership with the team at Magnus.”
The IFSL Magnus Max 35% Equity Fund will sit in the Investment Association’s Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares sector.
The IFSL Magnus Max 60% Equity Fund will sit in the Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares sector.
The IFSL Magnus Max 85% Equity Fund will sit in the Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector.
The ongoing charges figure (OCF) for the retail share class will be 0.58% for IFSL Magnus Max 35% Equity, 0.59% for IFSL Magnus Max 60% Equity and 0.57% for IFSL Magnus Max 80% Equity.
James Twining, Magnus CEO and Wren Sterling Group CEO (Right) & Martin Ratcliffe, Co-CEO of Investment Fund Services (Left)
