Online news daily Citywire's Wealth Manager said Bedlam Asset Management's plans to shut its business down after losing its key client. Plans to put the company back in shape was thrown out of the window after its chief executive had quit the company in October. Ian McCallum decided to quit without warning last month after initial steps to improve the business had already begun.
Bedlam Asset was founded by former Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia managing director Jonathan Compton. Bedlam Asset's team include former Deloitte tax specialist Richard Greenwood and ex-Morgan Stanley equity head for Europe Felicity Smith. It is currently managing assets valued at GBP360 million in various vehicles including funds Bedlam Global, Global Income and Emerging Markets.
In June this year, Bedlam decided to closed three of its six funds in its open-ended investment company (ICVC) as a move to make its business model leaner. The shutdown of its funds was reportedly done to reduce costs as Bedlam would undergo a heavy marketing campaign to promote that the company has improved dramatically. The management of Bedlam received a unanimous support from the board of directors, and drawed up plans for company representatives to make four marketing trips to the US and one to Australia in a 12-week span.
In a statement, Bedlam Asset said, "The consequences would be a material fall in fee income, with resultant losses at an unacceptable level. Thus although the reception from existing clients to recent performance has been universally good, and that from prospective investors better than for several years, the company now has almost no chance of achieving a sustainable critical mass."
"Therefore it is with great reluctance that the board has decided that the cleanest course is one of winding down the business followed by a voluntary closure," Bedlam Asset's statement read.
The Citywire report said investors of Bedlam Asset had been informed and that they could redeem their holdings starting next week at net asset value.
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