This week Morley Fund Management, one of Europe’s leading fund managers, announced the opening of a branch office in Germany.
This week Morley Fund Management, one of Europe’s leading fund managers, announced the opening of a branch office in Germany.
Located in Frankfurt, the office will focus on selling a range of Morley managed products including the Aviva Morley SICAV range recently approved for distribution in Germany. The office will support Morley's clients in the region and expand relationships with German, Swiss and Austrian distributors and institutions.
The addition of a German sales office brings the total of Morley’s European distribution teams to five with other offices located in London, Milan, Madrid and Warsaw.
According to Adam Lessing head of European business development at Morley the opening of a sales office in Germany is a natural development as well as a key milestone for Morley’s expansion plans in Europe.
"Germany is the second largest domestic market for mutual funds in Europe*. There is significant demand for property and absolute return funds in this region. Morley’s size and market leading expertise in these areas makes Germany is a natural step for our European plans.
"We recognise that a permanent sales presence and focussed commitment is needed to successfully penetrate this market. The understanding of local specificities and the ability to recruit talented people with local knowledge will be crucial to our success in this market.
"We are clearly not the first European manager to enter Germany but we bring unique skills to the market. We manage more than €40 billion of property funds - making us the largest property fund manager in Europe*** – and more than €150 billion of tactical asset allocation mandates. The depth and quality of our product range also supports our long-term plans in this market,” he said.
James Tanner, managing director responsible for distribution and alternatives at Morley said: “This is an important development for Morley. European mutual fund assets now total over €4.0 trillion and are forecast to increase**. A German sales office accelerates the growth of our European business and complements our existing sales offices in the markets of Spain, Italy and Poland.
“2006 saw sales in Europe increase dramatically bringing the total funds managed in the Aviva Morley Funds SICAV range to €5 billion. We plan to grow this significantly in 2007 and beyond and ultimately become a leading provider of cross-border products in Europe,” James said.
The appointment of sales staff including a country head for the German office is ongoing.
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*Source: FERI Fund Market Information Ltd, ranked by net total assets, October 2006
** Source: FERI Fund Market Information Ltd, January 2006
FERI FMI is a mutual fund market analysis and research publishing company specialising in all aspects of the domestic, pan-European and cross-border fund marketplaces. FFMI is a subsidiary company of FERI Rating & Research GmbH one of Europe's leading fund analysis and independent wealth management companies. The FERI group of companies manages or advises assets in excess of €200 billion.
*** Source: Oxford Property Consultants, December 31 2005
For more information contact:
Beth Saint
Corporate Communications
Telephone: 020 7809 8125
Notes to editors:
Morley Fund Management
Morley Fund Management Limited is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage Ł162bn or €239bn from offices around the world as at 30 September 2006.
Morley manages both institutional and retail funds. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds, marketed in the UK under the Norwich Union brand and in Europe under the Aviva brand.
Awards
- Equity End User of the Year – Derivatives Week DEAL Awards 2006
- Property Fund Manager of the Year, Pensions Management Awards 2006
- Best Commitment to Raising Standards of Trustee Education, Engaged Investor Awards 2006
- Property Fund Manager of the Year, Property Week Awards 2006
- SRI Provider of the Year, Global Pensions 2006
- Central European Property Awards 2005 - Outstanding Company of the Year & Investor of the Year
- UK Pensions Awards 2005 – Property Manager of the Year
- Property Week Awards 2004 – Best Property Fund Manager
- Pensions Management Provider Awards 2003 – Best Property Fund Manager.
Further information about Morley Fund Management can be found at www.morleyfm.com