Perennial Partners expands sustainable offerings

Perennial Partners is buying a majority stake in Melior Investment Management and will take over management of its flagship impact fund.

Under the agreement, the Melior brand will transition to Perennial, and the Melior investment team will increase their equity in the business. The balance of the business' ownership will continue to be held by the co-founders of private equity group Adamantem Capital.

Melior has agreed to transfer investment management rights of the Melior Australian Impact Fund to Perennial, but the fund will still be overseen by Melior chief investment officer and co-founder Tim King, and portfolio manager Nina Wilkinson will manage the fund alongside analyst Sona Fernandes.

The Melior Australian Impact Fund predominantly invests in Australian and New Zealand companies, delivering positive social and environmental impacts aligned to sustainable development goals (SDG). There will be no changes to the Melior Australian Impact Fund's investment strategy, investment process or name.

The strategy will be offered alongside Perennial's Better Future small and mid-cap focused fund, it said.

Meantime, Melior chief executive Lucy Steed will take on an advisory role at Perennial and will become chair of the Melior Advisory Council relating to the fund.

Perennial executive director Anthony Patterson said the firm will continue to reinforce all necessary resources to ensure that investment opportunities can be captured.

"In particular, with chief investment officer Tim King and his colleagues Nina Wilkinson and Sona Fernandes joining the Perennial team, continuity of management and investment strategy is ensured, while now having the substantial resources of Perennial to draw from," Patterson said.

King echoed Patterson's statement.

"Melior is proud of the solid foundation we've established for our Australian Impact Fund and the robust investment process we've demonstrated over the past six years," King said.

"With Perennial's strategic, operational and distribution expertise and access to an investor base made up of financial advisers, wealth managers, institutional, high net worth and family offices, we look forward to growing the Melior Australian Impact Fund in its next stage of development."

Launched in 2019, the Melior Australian Impact Fund has over $150 million in assets under management and has returned just over 8.3% in the 12 months to May 31, on par with the ASX300 benchmark (8.3%).