Macquarie buys all of Brook

Macquarie Global Investments has taken full ownership of New Zealand's largest boutique fund manager, Brook Asset Management.

Friday, February 8th 2008, 2:40PM

Macquarie previously held a 49% stake in the company, which it acquired in December 2004.

Head of Macquarie Global Investments, Matthew Rady, said that both companies are delighted with the outcome of the agreement.

"After a great deal of research and investigation into what would be the best way to support the growth of the business and benefit Brook's clients, both parties agreed that full ownership by Macquarie would be an extremely positive step," Rady said.

"Since taking a shareholding in 2004 we've been committed to ensuring that Brook operated independently as a boutique fund manager, in the same successful way that it had before we became involved, which remains our commitment today."

To support this autonomous approach, Macquarie and Brook have created a new Board Charter to shape the business moving forward and guide board decisions, reinforcing its boutique model.

Brook managing director, Mark Brighouse, said that Brook generated outstanding long term performance for its clients and that the move would provide a sound base for increasing the resources available to the business.

"This move will support Brook's growth without impacting its successful working formula, allowing us to continue focusing on both generating returns for our clients and taking advantage of the unique operating environment here in New Zealand," Brighouse said.

"The introduction of the Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) and Fair Dividend Rate (FDR) regimes, for example, will prove to be highly beneficial for investors in our professionally managed funds.

"Our 'value investing' approach has delivered handsomely to our clients during the past 11 years and, as a result, we're experiencing increasing demand for our specialist funds, in particular those that have a greater proportion of Australian assets."

Full ownership by Macquarie brings several advantages to both Brook clients and staff, providing access to the support of the wider Macquarie network and its recruitment, governance and risk management framework.

Brook, which currently has approximately $1.5 billion in assets under management, has enjoyed the benefits of Macquarie's expertise in marketing, IT, accountancy, insurance, administration and property services since entering into the partnership three years ago.

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