Swiss investment group GAM has rejected Schroders’ acquisition offer of its Systematic division which manages the Cantab quantitative hedge fund, The Financial Times has reported citing undisclosed sources. Schroders and GAM did not comment on the move.
GAM has refused to sell the unit as it may make the company’s overall sale difficult, the sources told the FT. Profits at GAM have suffered after news in July that it is writing-off Cantab Capital, the UK hedge fund manager it bought two years ago.
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This year, the share prices of GAM fell by nearly 66% valuing the company around CHF966m ($963m).
Subsequently, GAM identified ‘potential misconduct issues’ over its absolute return bond fund range that also led to the removal of its investment director Tim Haywood.
The situation compelled GAM to restrict withdrawals from these funds. Later, the company announced that it would liquidate the funds to return the money back to its investors.
Recently, the company said that it is assessing all possible options to maximise shareholder value and stabilise the company.
Last month, the company reported that its assets under management dipped 11% to CHF146.1bn at the end of September 2018 from CHF163.8bn at the end of June this year.
Its investment management arm also registered a significant 21% fall settling at CHF66.8bn at the end of September 2018 from CHF84.4bn as of 30 June 2018.
