MPG appoints head of capital markets team

Managing Partners Group, the international asset management boutique, has appointed Philip Eaton Richards as head of its Capital Markets Team as it expands its asset-backed securities business based in Malta.

Reporting directly to the chief Executive officer Jeremy Leach, Philip’s responsibility is to develop MPG’s securitisation and structuring services arm.

MPG believes the market for ABSs is set to grow exponentially over the next few years in Europe to meet demand from companies in three main sectors – SMEs looking to expand their products and services, operators in the growing FinTech sector and alternative fund managers looking to raise extra capital without creating new shares or units in their products.

In all these sectors, which are currently seeing growth in demand for capital, MPG anticipates strong demand for ABSs that are secured on the underlying assets and provide attractive yields for investors.

Philip is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) with a wide range of commercial, operational and entrepreneurial experience in the fields of asset management, financial structuring and online commerce. He successfully built and managed his own professional services business which he founded in 1992 and has taken senior roles in entrepreneurial organisations since 2009, building both marketing initiatives and infrastructure from the bottom up while also managing operations teams.

Mr Richards commented: “There is a major opportunity for providers of good quality ABSs. They offer investors outstanding yields in the current low interest rate environment, which will persist for at least five years. They can also provide the finance for SMEs and for fund managers, who operate in an extremely competitive market and need to find new ways of attracting capital to invest.

“The ABS market needs more regulated products and tighter regulation but Europe needs this sector to grow to support its economy. I look forward to developing MPG’s proposition in this exciting market.”

Mr Leach commented: “Philip is an excellent communicator, has an excellent grasp of the technical aspects of products and is focused on clients’ needs. He will play a key role in developing our ABS proposition at a time when the products are becoming increasingly popular in Europe.”

A securitisation is a flexible tool for turning comparatively illiquid assets into transferable securities by taking ownership of them in a security that can then be listed on a regulated European bourse. These listed securities are eligible for inclusion in a number of vehicles, including pension wrappers such as QROPS and SIPPs, fund platforms and UCITS funds.

Malta’s Securitisation Act has been a key factor in MPG’s decision to locate there, as well as the fact that the jurisdiction offers market access not just to the European Union but Commonwealth countries, too. Its regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority has embraced European legislation, responding quickly to new directives such as the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, while its push for Islamic banking demonstrates its intention to position Malta as one of Europe’s most important financial centres.